My Hero Academia (2): The Number One
by BigRedKronos
Summary: It's been one year since graduating UA. Izuku Midoriya, now known to the world as the professional hero Deku, must take every opportunity that he can to prove himself as someone to be taken seriously, while juggling his life as a husband, adopted father, and loyal friend. Meanwhile, dark forces gather in the shadows under a name no one's ever heard before. Not in thousands of years
1. Chapter 1: Blue Skies

A short, preteen girl with long silver hair tied up in a bun skipped alongside a young couple with hands clasped.

"That store should be around here somewhere. That app on my phone is never wrong." The husband said, dragging his free hand through his short green curls.

"Except when it is." The brunette wife sighed, resting her head casually on her partner's shoulder.

The little girl giggled in excitement. "I can't wait to see it!"

"Me too, Eri." The wife shared her big smile. "Izuku, are you sure you know where it is?"

"I never said I did. I said the GPS thingy does." He said waving his phone up.

"OH! There it is! I see it!" The girl, Eri cheered, hopping up and down, repeatedly grabbing Izuku's shoulder in mid-jump.

She pointed to a tiny gift shop just down the block with a small yet very colorful and welcoming sign out front.

Just the other day, her godfather Mirio Togata walked her downtown and passed a store just like it. Unfortunately they didn't have time to go inside and look around then.

Today, she wanted to take her adoptive parents' day off together and go see it as a family now that they finally had the time to spend.

"Lead the way!" Ochako cheered.

Eri giggled with glee and began to run across the road.

That's when Izuku felt something wrong and lunged forward, his powers carrying him across the road with lightning speed, catching Eri in his arms and pulling her to safety.

He looked back to witness a large semi-truck running the light it was supposed to stop at. And worse, it kept going until it crashed through the front of a nearby office building.

"Izuku..." Ochako alerted him.

"Take Eri inside. I have a feeling it wasn't the driver that caused that." He ordered, not taking his eyes off of the truck.

His suspicions were correct. The entire left side of the truck melted into liquid metal and plastic as a man dressed in a thin layer of pads and a suit jumped out carrying a briefcase in his hands.

"Suit up!" Izuku shouted.

On his command, a green material sprouted from his belt and wrapped up his body tightly. He pulled out a set of large white gloves from his back pocket and slipped them on. As he stepped forward, his shoes expanded and grew up his legs into his protective hero-boots. Custom designed for his leg-based fighting style.

From two small metal earpieces, expanded forth two halves of a mask that met at his chin and expanded, keeping his mouth visible but protected.

"Who are you supposed to be?" The man in the costume and briefcase asked from across the intersection.

"I am Deku! A hero! And it looks like that briefcase you got there didn't originally belong to you. I'm going to ask that you drop it or there will be consequences. You're lucky nobody got hurt."

"Not yet." The man sneered. "Though I have to tell you, do you know how hard it is to keep track of all these superheroes now? There's nearly thousands of you guys in Japan alone!"

As Izuku continued his confrontation of the villain, Ochako ran Eri inside the gift shop.

She pulled out her phone and a small set of headphones, then placed them in Eri's lap where she sat on the front counter.

"Okay Eri, honey. Listen to me. If things go sour, I might need to go out there and help your daddy, okay? Just stay here and listen to music until we get back. Okay, sweetie?" She asked the girl, getting down on one knee to meet eyes better with her.

"Okay, Mama." Eri nodded obediently, with a worried look on her face.

"Here. I'll even let you listen to my favorite song first." Ochako flipped to the correct song on her playlist then handed it back to Eri.

"G'bye, Mama!" Eri waved. It still worried her, seeing her parents always having to leave to save someone or stop a villain, but she was growing more confident with them together. Izuku and Ochako did make a great team when they had the chances.

The song began to play and Eri closed her eyes listening to the words.

It started off with a quick piano beat. Almost immediately, she lost all sense of reality to move along to the song. She jumped off the counter and lifted her leg up as the beat grew louder, completely drowning out the sound of Izuku being slammed into the window from the outside.

Sun is shinin' in the sky. There ain't a cloud in sight.

Eri danced around the store, between the aisles, unaware of the growing chaotic fight outside.

The owner of the store had a cat that passed by her on its way outside. It quickened its pace, noticing Eri now chasing after it with her hands out.

Still oblivious to the explosions and debris, and miraculously dodging it all to the beat of the song, Eri chased the cat around the street as Izuku and Ochako were trying everything in their power to drown the villain in the very mounds of solid materials he's melted down.

Ochako dropped a car right on top of him but it melted, and he passed through like he'd just had a large bucket of water dumped on him. He laughed and ran, until Izuku slammed his fist across his cheek.

Still, the fight carried on through Eri's song.

Now, with the scene behind her, and the cat in her arms, she skipped along happily humming along to the words of the song.

Mr. Blue, you did it right. But soon comes Mr. Night creepin' over...

SPWOOSH

Izuku ripped open a nearby fire hydrant and directed the high-pressured spray of water at the villain by twisting the entire metal spout with his strength.

The villain dropped the briefcase and threw his hands out in defense. As the water made contact with him, it turned solid, like ice, only strangely still the same temperature the water was.

Still, solid or liquid, the pressure of the water, slamming into him, was enough to knock him back and bury him in the chunks.

Ochako grabbed the briefcase from the ground just as the police arrived in three vehicles.

"Pro-heroes Deku and Uravity! Thank you." One officer acknowledged.

The couple sighed in relief. After Ochako handed the breifcase over to police custody and filed a report, they returned to the store where Eri had returned before them, sitting back on the counter with the cat in her arms and a new song just starting.

"We need a longer vacation." Ochako huffed.


	2. Chapter 2: Rapture

"This is the last straw, Mr. Nucleon. One more soapbox bash in the cafeteria and you're eating in isolation." A prison guard snapped as he, along with two others in identical uniforms tossed a villain back into his prison cell.

The prisoner chuckled and quickly got up, approaching the bars that separated them.

"But I've been behaving very well lately! C'mon. I'm allowed to speak my mind." He smiled.

"Your speeches call the other prisoners to violence and rioting." The guard frowned.

"Raging psychopath. If it were up to me, you'd remain in your cell all alone. And we'd bring you the leftovers from the meals." Another of the guards added.

Nucleon smiled. "I never murdered alone."

"Yet you are responsible for the deaths of dozens. You left a trail of chaos from the streets to the city. I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you."

With that said, the guards marched away.

"How can I keep from my singing? For I have seen my god..." He chuckled with glee. "Have you seen yours?"

Nucleon felt a tremor in the ground beneath him and backed away.

Soon a lone familiar guard approached his cell bars.

"My disciple..." He addressed the villain.

Nucleon quickly grabbed the bars. "Master?! Is it-"

"The time is now. I have studied your planet for a year's time. A rotation around your sun. It will be extremely difficult. This world... has forgotten its gods. Yet they worship strong men. I need your experience and knowledge to carry out my plans." The guard spoke in a voice that didn't fit his body.

"Does that mean...?"

"Let us free our followers... And the rest shall burn in these walls..."

"Sensei... May I see your true form again?" Nucleon asked.

"...In a moment. First, you shall be the one to set them all free."

"Yes, sensei." Nucleon bowed.

The guard simply ripped the cell door out of the wall. At that instant, the sirens went off throughout the prison.

"What will you do?" Nucleon asked stepping out of his glorified hole in the wall.

"Provide you an escape." The guard said.

The villain smiled and ran down the corridor until he found a maintenance closet open from the janitorial staff who were working nearby until the alarms went off.

Nucleon charged into the closet and gripped the fuse box.

Immediately, for the first time in a year, he felt his Quirk power through him. Sucking the energy from the prison walls into his hands and coursing through his veins.

He laughed as armed guards appeared behind him in the doorway.

"FREEZE! Hands off the fuse box!" The lead guard shouted.

Nucleon froze. His eyes went down. His fingers lifted off the box on the wall.

With lightning speed, he turned around and blasted the onslaught of rubber bullets and guards to ash.

He gripped the fuse box one more time to regain the energy he just spent.

Then, exiting the closet, he ran from cell to cell, blasting the locks and letting the convicts free themselves. Many chose to run with him, helping others escape.

Nucleon's army had grown.

It wasn't long after that the small army found themselves in a larger open area. Three levels of armed guards with guns pointed towards them.

"Surrender now, villain scum! And your punishments will be swift as they are painful." None other than the gutsy warden and good friend of the police chiefs proclaimed from the second level.

Nucleon looked up and frowned. "Ladies and gentlemen! Believers and nonbelievers. I am no mere criminal. I stand not for monetary greed or mad hunger for power. Although those pleasures can be fun... I have been enlightened... And tonight, you shall be too."

The guard beside the warden placed his hand on to his shoulder.

"What is it?!" The warden snapped as he turned toward the guard only to face a tall pink muscular monster entity, whose nine randomly placed eyes stared him down.

"What the hell?!"

Every guard around him turned their guns to the mysterious being.

"You are devoted men and women... I respect that." It said.

Suddenly its large hand gripped the warden's head and crushed it like a soda can.

"Yet it is false."

"FIRE!"

Every guard unloaded their magazines at the towering villain who was thrown back to the wall from the sheer force of rubber bullets and non-lethal ammo.

He groaned then quickly began to step back toward the scene. The bullets and ammunition bouncing, literally ricocheting off of his skin and hitting the walls and guards.

His eyes lit up and a hot red laser blasted from all nine eyes, reducing every guard it touched to dust.

One stone-Quirk guard slammed his enlarged stone fist on the monster's back. He roared and swung his arm around, knocking the same guard into the wall where he crumbled apart.

Another tried blasting him with a controlled electric blast that shot through his body. He yelled out in pain for a moment but reached out to the guard in his pain and redirected the energy back to the guard, frying him in place.

The villain stood up and quickly began jumping from guard to guard, slamming their heads into the ground, into each other, punching them down or to the nearest wall, blasting the farther ones.

Nucleon and his army began fighting from their end of the room, tearing through the prison guards.

Every window and door was suddenly shut by a large metal panel each, locking them all inside in darkness.

Until the large villain's tattoos which lined his entire body lit up. He charged the nearest wall and blasted straight through with a shock-wave that nearly sent everybody present off of their feet.

Nucleon smiled with pride, seeing the sun again.

As the waves of prisoners ran out of the hole to freedom, the villain pulled Nucleon aside.

"This world is too arrogant. Pride fills their powers and power fuels their pride. If we are to stand a chance against the strongest of defenders here, we must find a way to suppress their powers." He said.

Nucleon looked on in the distance. The prison was located deep in the country. Where the cold winds of the Arctic Circle blow down and freeze everything. "I think I know a few places we can look, Promethys-Sensei."


	3. Chapter 3: Out With the Old

"Attention class." Shouta Aizawa said in his usually unenthusiastic and exhausted tone. "As I've prepared you before, this week is your second internships for the year. Many of you have impressed companies both in the sports festival and from every public demonstration with pro-heroes since so you have some great opportunities here. Don't waste them."

Hansuke Gonzales was fighting off sleep, resting his cheek on his hand which stood up by his elbow on his desk, with a line of drool in the corner of his mouth.

"Gonzales." Aizawa alerted him.

By the mention of his name, he sat upright with wide eyes.

"Maybe some things this semester have been boring to you, but it would be a good idea to pay attention to this part. You didn't get many internship offers this time." His sensei glared at him.

Some of his classmates giggled around him.

"Now for my favorite part. While you're all away with your internships for the week, and with the annual celebration of heroes at I-Island, I'll be gone on a special assignment."

"You know you can just tell us you're taking a vacation, sensei." One of the more confident class-clown type classmates up in the front said with a smirk.

His confidence quickly faded away as Aizawa locked eyes with him menacingly.

"Ooh! Ooh! Is it with Ms. Joke?!" Asked a female classmate with her hand raised high in excitement over her goggled face.

"It seems we've run out of time. Get lost before I start giving you house arrest for probing around my personal life." He groaned.

Hansuke exhaled in relief and cleaned up his stuff to exit.

Aizawa walked in between him and the door without a warning. "Gonzales. A word with you first."

"Y-Yes, Aizawa-sensei." He bowed.

The worn-down teacher sighed and sat at his desk. Something he seldom ever does. "I didn't want to embarrass you anymore in front of your classmates because I see you haven't been getting along with many of them. However, I sugarcoated it. No one signed up to intern you."

Hansuke felt a rock drop in his stomach. "Y-Yeah... That's what I thought."

Aizawa exhaled again. "However, upon seeing the results this morning, I contacted Deku to see if he would be interested in having you for an internship. If anyone would do it, he would."

The interracial teen smiled. "If he's all I have then so be it."

"Here's something I'd like for you to work on with him and not just yourself: make your names known. He carries a special power. You both do, in fact. And the world should see worthy men such as yourselves using such power for good." He counseled.

"Right... It's just that...my Quirk."

"It's hard for people to see the work you do when it's done with time nearly standing still. I get it. But when have my assignments ever been easy for you?" He gave Hansuke his trademark wicked smile.

"Wh-What if something were to happen while you're gone?" Hansuke asked.

"I won't be too far. But you have Deku and you have your classmates. You'll be more than fine." Aizawa explained.

"Okay... Yes, sensei. Thank you." Hansuke bowed again.

"You've improved remarkably this past year, young Gonzales. Don't let these opportunities die out." He gave one more warning.

Hansuke sighed and snapped his fingers over his ears, then ran away as time came to a stop.

~~~~~~~

Isn't life great?

In our world, everyone is born with wonderful abilities. We each have something that makes us special and makes us beautiful.

Now imagine you're me.

A successful doctor born with the perfect Quirk for the job. The ability to remove anyone's illness and take it upon myself through my fingertips. Of course, the illnesses rarely affected me badly due to my enhanced immune system that I gained from a lifetime of perfecting my Quirk.

But then I was approached by a mysterious group of men who wanted me to cure an incurable condition for their "boss". Cancer was always my arch-nemesis much like a big scary villain is nemesis to the professional heroes.

I tried everything I knew to do outside of the standard chemo-therapy treatments.

But I couldn't save the man.

So they took me out of my office, out of the hospital, somewhere far away. And they cut off all of my fingers, save my two thumbs.

I was cast into the street unable to use my Quirk as I had once done to my fullest.

I received help from a friend to construct prosthetic fingers with sharp ends for injecting needles. However, in order to use my Quirk with the patients, I would have to inject them with all four needles and plant my thumb against them. Unlike before where it only required a five finger touch.

When I tried to return to work, people were afraid of me. The recognition I gained had crumbled with the hideous sight of my scarred and robotic hands. Patients refused to work with me.

I had no choice but to quit.

Life as a doctor was all I wanted. I wanted to use my Quirk to help others the way I knew I could. But if you look like a monster, people will treat you as a monster.

It wasn't my fault he died. It wasn't my fault I lost my fingers. It isn't my fault that I look this way.

Yet here I am now. Hiding all that I am behind the mask those men wore who removed my fingers. When I heard that the Yakuza fell to some heroes in rescuing a little girl, I celebrated.

Yet it changed nothing. I am still a freelance doctor. More often, people want the diseases I extract for biological weapons. So I distribute them for the money. And often, I inflict the diseases myself as a mercenary for hire. An assassin. I hate it. But I hate the people who made me this way even more, dead or alive.

"Your story... It moves me." A deep bellowing voice said in the darkness of the alleyway.

The doctor, dressed in a medieval plague doctor's suit, turned to see the towering Promethys emerge from the shadows of the buildings.

"I have no money to offer to you. However, I see what you truly are and I know just how to grant you status as a doctor again. The society that denied your destiny will pay dearly..." He hissed. "Together, we can make those changes. People will flock to you for your gifts."

"So what do you need from me?" The doctor asked.

"A cure for...Quirks."


	4. Chapter 4: Family Life

Izuku, Ochako, and Eri finally arrived home to their apartment and had specifically planned to do nothing for the remainder of their day together.

Eri ran ahead and turned on their television. Due to her life being surrounded by heroes and villains, she at times wasn't interested in the topics. However, now being in the legal custody of the fanboy-turned-hero Izuku, she loved on occasion, watching movies of the genre and even turning to the news to see what battles took place and what abilities were used.

Izuku and Ochako collapsed on the couch behind Eri, who sat closer to the screen on the floor.

"Never truly a day off, huh?" Izuku sighed.

"Crime sure doesn't think that way." Ochako replied.

"But hey! At least that big international celebration of heroes is coming up in a couple days!" He said excitedly, sitting up on the couch and peeling off what he could of his dirty hero costume.

"Oh that's right! I almost forgot!" Izuku's brunette wife cheered.

"What's gonna happen?" Eri asked.

"To celebrate 200 years of heroes in society, Japan is hosting a gigantic festival for heroes from all over the world!" Izuku exclaimed. "It'll be a dream come true to meet so many of my childhood favorites who normally live very far away."

"It'll also be a good opportunity to gain favor with the public eye and other heroes!" Ochako added. She put her arm around her husband's back in support.

"Th-That's right!" Izuku said.

Eri just gave them both a small smile.

"Toshinori could be your escort!" Ochako suddenly sat up in surprise thought. "All Might and Deku! Old generation and new!"

Izuku blushed. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that publicity yet..."

"Babe, we've been together for nearly a year now. Heh, I just hinted you our anniversary. But you're not just any other hero. The power that flows within you is meant for the world. You have to show it." Ochako counseled him.

"I didn't forget our anniversary! It's tomorrow!" He quickly turned to her with his entire face nearly blood-red. He cleared his throat and calmed down. "I just..."

"C'mon! You're not gonna let some stage fright stop the bearer of One For All, are you?!" She encouraged. "No! You are Deku! You've fought literal gods and armies before. You met and impressed AND SURPASSED your all-time hero All Might!"

"Ochako, it's not like it's happening right this second. You motivate me but it's still two days away."

Ignoring him, Ochako pulled out her phone to a notification on her social media, reminding her of an event from this year's past. "Oh Izuku look! Remember Hansuke's first sports festival?! And when you were the only one to give him an internship?! Look at you two! You're like two little kids dressed up for Halloween!"

She flashed the photo in Izuku's face. He and Hansuke stood with confidence so fake it could be seen in their nervous smiles as they stood in the city street bearing their costumes.

"Who knew the one day I signed him up to help me patrol, nothing happens. So-"

"You pulled a Gran Torino and trained him the rest of the time." Ochako snickered.

"I just wish more people could see the use and amazing qualities I see in Quirks that aren't so...cinematic, you know?" Izuku said.

"Like mine?" Eri asked.

"Sweetie, your Quirk is amazing and useful!" Ochako defended.

"I know, but it's not sina... cinna... mordic?" Eri blushed attempting the unfamiliar word.

"Lots of Quirks are that way. I think each of them are incredible and should receive recognition but it's not that easy." Izuku patted her head of silver hair.

"Especially for heroes." Ochako sighed.

"Well, I think it's time we make something to eat." Izuku suggested.

"Can I help?" Eri jumped up to her feet enthusiastically.

"Um well-" Izuku rubbed his head.

"Of course you can!" Ochako said just as enthusiastically, standing up and planting her palms on her knees keeping eye contact with her adopted daughter.

~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Izuku was reading on the schedule. The old agency Sir Nighteye and All Might suggested for his hero work had scheduled him to attend the international hero celebration, but tomorrow he was asked to investigate the forests near the largest villain prison in Japan.

That news sent a lump down his throat and tied a knot in his stomach. His first thoughts jumped to Nucleon. The sociopathic cultist villain who tried to open a black hole over Tokyo a year ago. He may have been crazy, but he was very powerful, and persuasive enough to amass a few other strong villains to join him. Some of which included enemies he knew his first year of UA.

No doubt, regardless who was in those woods now, that this was confirmed a large prison break.

Ochako appeared in the doorway to their bedroom, leaning against the frame in her nightgown. Her hair was already messy and she looked too exhausted to be there.

"Izuuuu what are you doing still up?" She slurred and yawned.

"Ochako, you don't have to wait for me to come to bed. I'm just...thinking about tomorrow." Izuku exhaled.

"You heard about that prison break? Is that your assignment?" She asked, rubbing her face to focus on their conversation.

He nodded hesitantly. "I don't know why it makes me nervous. They're just normal villains in that prison. Nothing we haven't dealt with before."

"Muscular... Shigaraki... Nucleon..." Ochako said sadly. "I'm the only one reserved to worry about you encountering those...monsters again. You are the Symbol of Peace."

"Lately, there's been things...holding me back..." Izuku leaned against the kitchen counter and looked down in shame.

"What things?" Ochako asked.

"...Maybe if I do go to sleep I'll feel better about this whole mess in the morning." He said, willfully avoiding her question.

That seemed to satisfy the brunette enough. She was very tired and appreciated the end of the conversation, but it also began to haunt her in a way. Izuku isn't one to avoid questions. He was usually very open and honest with her. Still, she felt it better that they get some rest before they figure things out.

As they left for the bedroom, a dark figure watched from a neighboring rooftop with somewhat of a view of their kitchen window. "This is going to be easier than I thought." He said through his bird-like mask.


	5. Chapter 5: Doctor’s Visit

Izuku woke early, even before the sun rose. He was never really a deep sleeper. Ochako on the other hand could sleep through a tsunami, so he left her to her slumber.

He went outside and leaned his elbows against the railing on their balcony, deep in thought. With help, he no longer mutters aloud, but has multiple quick thoughts pop up in times of relaxation. Better then, than in the middle of more dire circumstances.

"I should start treating Hansuke as All Might treated me in UA. He can't just be my favorite... But I'm too young in my career to just become a teacher there, as nice as it could be." He sighed to himself.

In the cool early morning air, he felt a shift. Instinctively, he reacted and turned around facing the door.

Upon finding nothing out of the ordinary, he shrugged and turned back around to the balcony, when four long, thin spikes stabbed themselves into his abdomen through his shirt.

He groaned out in pain and they retracted, out of his chest, over the balcony and up to the unknown roof above.

Izuku grunted and launched himself off his own balcony, quickly turning himself around and activating Black Whip to pull himself up to the roof.

As he landed on his feet, he barely caught his would-be assassin jumping off.

The hero began his pursuit after the figure, jumping off of the roof and using Black Whip to simultaneously propel him down the side of the building, while still keeping a grip and preventing him from simply falling, increasing his safety and his speed.

The figure was simply falling, like he didn't have any plans of landing properly, like he's expecting to be caught.

Izuku groaned in anger and tackled the figure with his arms now outstretched.

Using One For All, he landed hard on the pavement with his feet, holding his attacker.

"Alright. What's the big idea stabbing me with those needles?! Is that your Quirk?!" He shook the figure dressed in a full medieval plague doctor costume.

The doctor didn't answer. He reached his feet down to the ground and kicked Izuku back.

"You're gonna tell me what you just did to me, villain! Or I'm going to-"

"Go ahead and try." The plague doctor said in his mask. "What I did to you is more effective than you realize."

Izuku took a moment to analyze his situation. His attacker was dressed like a plague doctor, iconically complete with a rust colored metal beak-shaped mask. He injected him with four long retractable needles. Upon observation, those came from one of his hands. Each of his hands had four prosthetic fingers tipped with thin needles retracted back, most likely for close combat.

He's fought enemies like this before. The Eight Precepts of Death. Known for their signature beak-masks and Quirk-suppressing...drugs.

Izuku quickly tried to rush the doctor using One For All but felt a pain zip up and down his legs. He stumbled and yelled in pain.

"Izuku Midoriya. Deku. I was hired to reinvent the Quirk killer those Yakuza first made." The villain began to explain.

Izuku stood up, relaxing his Quirk, which made his body relax in response.

"Don't worry. The dosage I gave you isn't permanent. I'm simply here to test it. Like veterinary scientists testing tranquilizer on an elephant for smaller animals, I decided to test it on the strongest and easiest hero I could find. All the rest are in higher security mansions and penthouses and I didn't feel like breaking in to much tonight." He said calmly, watching Izuku struggle with an emotionless look in his eyes.

He moved out of the way as Izuku swung forward trying to hit him. Black Whip emerged from his wrists only to flop to the ground and dissipate. The hero gripped his wrists and hissed. More pain shot through him.

"Fascinating isn't it? The drug attacks your nervous system and latches on to the brain functions tied with your Quirk. The more you use it, the more pain you feel. Not exactly the deterrent most employers would request, but mine are rather...eccentric. They're not really looking to 'get rid of Quirks'." The doctor spoke on.

As he talked, Izuku continued trying to attack him. Each time, the doctor simply backed away.

"If you didn't have a Quirk, I'd say you're the most pathetic powerless man I've ever seen." The doctor said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "But who am I to talk about powerlessness? Name's Eto, but you may call me Inflictor."

Izuku groaned and tried to push himself through the pain. It's the only way to stop this guy from getting away. He activated One For All and yelled as he built up energy. 40%, 45%, 50%, 60%.

Doctor Eto sighed and stabbed him again with his needle fingers. "Lights out, big fella. Tonight, the fireworks begin."

The green-haired hero winced and gasped as all his power began to collapse in on himself. It's as if the drug was turning his own power into pain, and soon, he collapsed on the street completely unconscious.

The villain stood over him and brushed off his shoulder. "Shame... You and I hold something in common, yet your world is gonna burn, and mine is being built."

He walked away then stopped in his tracks, and looked back at the young hero lying there on the ground.

"Don't do it, you jerk." He said to himself.

~~~~~~~

Ochako finally woke up with the alarm later that morning with the sun finally rising. She turned over and smiled at her husband lying in a deep sleep beside her. As if nothing had happened.

"Izu-kun. It's time to get up." She nuzzled him gently, which is all it took to wake him.

But he kept sleeping.

"Izuku?" She asked. Maybe he was more exhausted than either of them imagined. She didn't want to wake him, but she had to. She shook him a little harder, but he refused to wake up.

"Izuku!" She repeated, louder.

After some harder attempts, he began to stir with a massive headache.


	6. Chapter 6: The Day of Internship

The young adoptive parents waited until young Eri was off to school. Izuku's mother was the one to take her, due to their busy schedule often making it difficult to take her themselves.

"Okay. Now what was it you wanted to tell me? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Ochako asked.

"Do you remember me coming to bed last night?" Izuku asked.

"No not really. I was fast asleep when you finally came in. What time did you sleep, Izu-kun?" She asked.

"I'm not sure... But something...happened..." He trailed off thinking of the villain who attacked him.

He knew where they lived. He may even be able to come back and see if Izuku told anyone about the incident. What he did to the hero, he could do worse with Ochako or Eri. There's no telling with villains. Even if this one seemed more empathetic in some ways. For instance, Izuku was knocked out by his own Quirk no other good Samaritan would know to carry him back to his specific apartment, get inside, and put him in his bed.

"Honey?" Ochako's addressing him snapped him back to reality.

"S-Sorry. I saw something last night on the rooftops so I went to investigate... I must've been so tired that I don't remember coming back." He said.

"Thankfully you did. Do you remember what you saw?" She tilted her head in curiosity. Not many things would trigger her husband to just run off and investigate a rooftop...unless it were something like a hero or a villain spying on them.

Izuku did his best to give as much truth to her as he could without giving her more to worry about than they already had. They'd been married not even one year and both had much to learn, even with the extra years dating in high school. Although Izuku hated lying, especially to his loved ones, Ochako already had enough stress to deal with being a caretaker for Eri, an aspiring professional hero, and wife to another professional hero with the same amount of balancing competition and selflessness.

"I-I'm not sure... I chased after them but I never saw them..."

"Did they happen to hit you on the head or something? You seemed to have a bad headache earlier. I'm just glad it's not a migraine, sweetie. That wouldn't be good for a day like this." Ochako said, planting her palm on his forehead.

Izuku responded with a warm smile and a light blush in his cheeks. He loved how much she cared for him but it concerned him at the same time, as her husband and best friend. As heavy of a sleeper as she was, it wasn't every night she would get good sleep and much of it was due to the stress they faced daily.

He quickly realized what she said. "Wait, what did you say? What's today?"

Ochako giggled. "Izuku silly. It's the first day of the International Heroes' Festival! And the first day of internships too!"

Izuku felt immensely better. He perked up and joyfully grabbed Ochako by her waist, twirling her around their kitchen a couple times before setting her back down on her feet.

She responded with more giggles and a tight hug around him. "This could be our chance, Izu." She whispered against his neck.

Izuku hugged her back. "It's going to be the best day of our hero lives."

"Second best." Ochako smirked. "My favorite was when we got married."

Izuku blushed deeper and gently broke their hug, much to her disappointment, made audible with a small whine.

"C'mon, Ochako. We first have to get ready. It's almost time!" Izuku said. He clutched her hand in his own and dragged her to their bedroom.

~~~~~~~~

Izuku had kissed Ochako goodbye and parted ways with her at the train station. She was assigned to a patrol for the first half of the day. Izuku was told to join once he picked up his intern from UA. Unless the situation grew unpredictably dangerous, internships were still being held, if not for the later portion of the day and forward.

UA and other schools agreed that internships be held at this time for the students to experience the festival and see how heroes from all around the world do it. Izuku couldn't agree more.

He waited for his intern's train to arrive, bearing his iconic green costume. It had gone through several alterations throughout his years with One For All. With the addition of the Quirks of its past possessors now flowing through his veins, it was difficult at first. But now he had practically become a one-hero army.

The public only knew about a select few. Mainly his All Might energy and his Black Whip. Those closest to him knew about the others. But only Ochako knew completely about One For All. It was the biggest jolt in their relationship to date. Yet she was understanding and she loved Izuku then as she does now. She never thought less of him for it and appreciated it. However it made his past seem far more depressing to hear for her connecting the dots.

The train now arrived with super speed. Among the first to step out was the young half-Hispanic boy still in his UA uniform. He rushed through the crowd and threw his arms around Izuku.

Almost as quickly, he let go and jumped back. "Sorry about that... It's good to see you, Deku-sensei!"

"It's great to see you, Hansuke-kun! How have your classes been?" Izuku asked already with a proud smile, expecting his unofficial pupil to give a positive response.

"They've been... alright. Pretty good!" He chuckled nervously.

So not very positive.

Izuku nodded. "Well, that's good at least. Do you have your hero costume ready? We have to report in soon."

"Hm? Oh yes!" Hansuke tugged his backpack off and dug inside. He pulled out a suit with mixes of purple and light blue, making sure Izuku sees at least the portion he held out before putting it back in. "We'll go drop off your bag and get going. Make sure you change into your suit. We have a big day ahead of us. I mean prison-break big."


	7. Chapter 7: Patrol in the Woods

"The Super Power Hero Deku, reporting in!" Izuku said through a communication device in his ear, tapping a finger to it to speak.

"Chrono-Speed intern Warpi, reporting in." Hansuke announced in his own earpiece.

"Warpi, huh?" Izuku turned to him.

"Y-Yeah. I couldn't think of a cooler name for myself. But it's fine." The first-year shrugged.

Hansuke sure seems to not take things too seriously. He could be stuck with that name his whole life. Changing names as a hero is easier when you're new, but it's not long before people start to notice you and it's not smart to use your birth name. It troubled Izuku. There was a stark difference between them. Could this be what made Hansuke not last at UA in the first place?

Izuku wasn't a lover of studying, but he always knew its benefits. He loved training and put thought into his hero name. He excelled at everything in school he was told to. Hansuke only seems to do what he needs to because he's being told to, not because he wants to.

Still, Izuku wasn't sure entirely. Hopefully his observations were wrong. Only the internship will tell.

"So while other heroes go to that big festival we're stuck...catching escaped prisoners?" He asked.

Izuku sighed. "It won't be the entire day. They have many heroes working in shifts. It's inconvenient for an incident this big to take place at such a celebratory time, but as heroes we are to drop everything and be ready when duty calls."

"Seems a bit extreme for a first year internship." Hansuke shuddered.

"Maybe. But they put us through lots of extreme tasks during my first year." The hero explained.

"Most of them, you had no choice. You were being attacked by one of history's worst groups of villains ever." The boy said.

"That's...also true."

"And any one of them could be one of the escaped criminals." Hansuke frowned.

Izuku gulped quietly, marching just ahead of his intern.

He hadn't thought of that.

Izuku's first year of UA High was perhaps the hardest year of his life. He made many lifelong friends and met his first kiss, girlfriend, and now wife while there. He met Eri, who gave him new responsibilities and a new outlook on being a hero. He met his hero All Might and gained his trust and powers. He truly grew in every way.

But he also broke nearly every bone in his body at least once. He experienced some of the scariest people he's ever met and threatened by most of them. He almost watched his loved ones die on numerous occasions. The stress nearly tore him apart. And any one of those monsters who still haunt his dreams, could be in these woods.

"Are there other heroes here?" Hansuke asked.

"Y-Yeah. A few friends of mine plus some older pros. They're dividing us up with timestamps. There's approximately two hundred professional heroes in Japan, counting the newest ones from this last year. And they've split us up randomly into four timestamps. That means fifty will be scouring the areas closest to the prison like we are doing now. Another fifty will be in the city, searching there. Another fifty are doing research on the escaped criminals and looking into what caused the breakout. And the last fifty are tending to the hundreds of professional heroes and politicians from around the world."

"Is Ochako here?" Hansuke asked further.

"N-No. We got separate schedules. She's currently at the festival. I have my phone with me on silent in case she or anyone there needs to make an emergency call to me." Izuku explained.

"Well honestly I hope we find those villains because walking in the woods all day is probably the most boring job." The first-year yawned.

"Look alive, Warpi! They may even have an ambush planned for us at any moment!" The hero said.

Hansuke sighed again and sped up to walk beside Izuku. "So they haven't told you who escaped from the prison yet?"

"Not yet. The report was given the hour of the breakout. They haven't had time to look through the files and security tapes because the villains were still within view running away."

"What do you think caused it?" Hansuke asked.

"It would have to be someone very powerful, who wasn't restrained. Some prison breaks resulted from outside forces entering the facility and busting through themselves, simply to cause a panic. But attacks like that are too reckless to just cause hysteria, so typically they're tactics used for a distraction."

"Distraction for what?!" Hansuke's eyes widened.

"I don't know. No one's been able to find anything yet. But... They did find all officers dead."

"You mean they killed all the guards?!" He cried.

Izuku looked ahead. "I think so... But anyone whom I would conclude would have done it is...dead."

Hansuke shuddered. The defeat of the League of Villains a few years ago changed the game for villains everywhere. The leader All For One's fate shook everyone good and evil. Of course, Izuku, like all heroes, does not kill. There are just circumstances that can't be controlled. And desperations bring out the worst in us.

But not all of their worst enemies were gone. Ever since Izuku became an official hero, the villains only grew in numbers. This last year was rough. Especially with the emergence of Nucleon and his cult that nearly destroyed Tokyo by opening a black hole into space.

It sent a shudder down his spine.

Suddenly, the duo turned toward the sound of a twig snapping in the trees behind them. They saw nothing but they knew they weren't alone.

"Warpi. Use your Quirk to scout our perimeter about ten meters." Izuku ordered, speaking very softly but within his earshot.

Hansuke nodded and raised his hands to snap his fingers over his ears, when he was suddenly thrown to the ground and dragged away by a ribbon around his ankle.

"Ha- Warpi!" Izuku shouted and chased after the kidnapper and his intern.


	8. Chapter 8: Overgrowth

Izuku chased after the plants that were pulling his intern through the forest at high speed.

He activated One For All and leapt from tree to tree in pursuit.

"Warpi!" He called to the ensnared boy. "Use your Quirk!"

Hansuke couldn't look around to meet eyes with Izuku. "I can't reach my ears! My arms are tied up!"

"Then think of this as a training exercise! You only need to snap your fingers by your ears to trigger it but I bet you can do it without them!" Izuku called after.

The boy breathed heavily. "I-I've never done it without snapping!"

"Just trust me! Concentrate on putting yourself in that plane!" The hero shouted. "Freeze time for everything except yourself! Just for a few of your seconds!"

Hansuke gasped and closed his eyes to focus. "Okay, okay, okay. Just...FREEZE!"

Everything around him began cutting in and out of being frozen, as if reality became like a scratched DVD, cutting every few frames per second out.

Izuku, having the incredible speed he did, could detect this. Hansuke wasn't able to do it entirely but he was cutting into it. Making progress. It looked as though they couldn't rely on Quirk training to get him out of those vines and leaves.

They came to a clearing where the plants whipped off of the boy, throwing him on to his back. Izuku leapt to his side and pulled him to his feet.

However, his attention was on the green-skinned villain in an orange jumpsuit standing before them.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." He snickered and cracked his knuckles.

"...Dammit I know this guy." Izuku took one small step back. A defensive tactic in order to fix his fighting stance.

"Overgrowth." The villain proclaimed with pride as thorns burst from his arms.

"The plant-based villain. Low-level thug, in all honesty. But nonetheless an incredibly annoying adversary." Izuku announced.

"You're one to talk. Hell, that's your weakness to me. You TALK TOO MUCH!" The villain roared, swinging his arm which immediately unleashed a volley of large seeds toward the two.

Izuku, with lightning speed, grabbed Hansuke and pulled him to the side.

"Don't worry, I'll make quick work of this guy. Last time I fought him, I didn't know what he was capable of. But now I'm prepared." He said. "Just sit back and watch a pro at work!"

Hansuke rolled his eyes. "Fine. But I'm still useful. I can snap again."

"That's okay! Save your energy! I have a feeling he's not the only one working this."

"Wise decision to not underestimate me. But I was worried you were for a second." The Overgrowth villain said.

Izuku looked back at where the seeds landed and saw the ground covered in thorn bushes sprouting up fast.

"Wouldn't want one of those to hit ya, I assume." Overgrowth chuckled. "Now give me your best shot!"

Izuku glared at him before charging at high speed, faster than he could see.

He moved, from where he was just standing, to the other end of the opening in front of the green villain in less than a second of time.

"Whoa..." Hansuke said. He'd seen Izuku in action before, but every time, the power that he possessed never ceased to surprise him.

Just as the villain was about to react, desperately from the sudden maneuver of speed on him, another force came between the two.

Izuku's leg, which was swinging up to hit the villain's ribcage, was met with another leg.

The air compressed and blasted the grass and the trees and then became still.

Overgrowth, who was practically sucking his thumb in cowardice, was a few meters back and unharmed.

Meanwhile, a new escapee in the same orange suit stood blocking Izuku. His hair was very short and three growths sprouted from his head and reconnected in three different places on his back. He sported a wicked smile of victory and stood up straight, face to face with the hero.

"Now this is awkward." He chuckled. He turned his head only slightly to acknowledge Overgrowth. "How you doing back there, Overgrowth, any scratches? Thanks for playing the bait."

The green plant villain simply nodded.

Izuku himself was speechless.

"You look shocked. Was it sheer denial that was keeping you from assuming I would be a part of this?" The villain asked.

"Nucleon..." Hansuke whispered.

That prompted the villain to turn his head completely to get a look at the boy.

Izuku took his chance. He swung his fist swiftly into Nucleon's kidney, sending first the area of impact, then the rest of his body flying until he crashed into a thick tree's trunk.

"As a professional hero of the city of Tokyo, I hereby place you both under hero's arrest." Izuku declared. "Warpi. Get the capture tape from my right pouch and tie Overgrowth up. I'll get Nucleon."

Hansuke stood up and ran to Izuku, fishing through the red pouch on his right side and pulling out the strand of incredibly powerful tape.

"Remember to wrap his wrists behind his back." Izuku instructed.

"Right." The boy nodded and, under the eye contact of Izuku, was able to tie up the plant villain properly.

"Ohhh Izuku Midoriya..."

His attention turned back to Nucleon.

The villain sitting against the tree stood up in the most unnatural way Izuku had ever seen. His feet planted on the ground first, and his ankles lifted his body up. His back arched deeply then straightened out once he was standing up straight.

"I've heard a great deal about you from Nucleon." He said in a deep unrecognized voice.

"Wh-What is this? Who are you?!" Could it be Himiko Toga? The villainess who could become anyone she wanted as long as she tasted their blood? It could explain why Nucleon didn't put up as much of a fight as he would have. Not to mention, she's very flexibly strong.

"I've seen many things in my days... But you are truly one of the greatest spectacles." The villain said.

His body began to contort and grow larger. His muscles expanded, the jumpsuit burned off his body. His skin turned a deep pink with reddish pink tattoos. His eyes split into nine red eyes randomly placed on his head. His mouth split and expanded into four thick mandibles.

"Your existence pisses me off." This new mysterious villain hissed. Before it charged him at high speed.


	9. Chapter 9: Festival of Quirks

Ochako gave a sigh of relief as she entered one of the biggest convention centers she's ever seen. Her morning was successful in getting Eri to school and getting to the festival on time. Back on I-Island.

She'd received word from some of her friends as well as veteran professional heroes like Gunhead about what their jobs would be.

"Heroes and sponsoring politicians from all over the world were gathering in this very convention center to celebrate nearly 300 years of Quirks in our society. Treat them well! Give them a good time! It's a week to celebrate who we are and what Quirks have done for our world."

It was also the yearly event that classified heroes as "the number one", "the number two" and so on.

Things were different for the Zero Gravity Quirk-user. Once Izuku told her about One For All and the importance of it, despite the defeat of All For One, she felt as if the competitions to be "the best" were almost petty. She still wanted to be recognized and receive the right wage to support her family, parents and now her husband and adopted daughter. But her attempts to really become "the best" were realistically put down.

How could anyone compare to her husband? Sure, he still hasn't completely unlocked all power within his inherited Quirk, but during their last year of UA, he won the sports festival, topping both Katsuki Bakugou and Shouto Todoroki. And she thought he looked sexy while doing it.

Needless to say, competition was still good and necessary amongst the heroes. Ochako was just realistic about it. With Izuku as the bearer of All Might's Quirk, it's basically a fight for second place. That is, once he makes a big enough name for himself.

"I hope Izuku's shift ends soon." She said to herself marching up to the gates in her iconic pink and navy blue hero costume. "I'm sure glad we overlap."

Opportunities like this are great for heroes as individuals. But for the sake of being his wife, she wanted him there with her to make friends and have fun.

"Uravity! Over here!" A mature but feminine voice called from her right.

Momo Yaoyorozu, now the hero Creati was standing in her red, revealing hero costume.

"Momo! I mean Creati!" Ochako called back and ran to her.

Momo first frowned at her address to her first name but resumed smiling once Ochako quickly corrected herself.

They greeted with a brief tight hug.

"Look at you! It's been a while!" Ochako smiled big.

"It definitely has. How is Eri?" Momo asked.

"Eri is doing great! She's started middle school! Ugh, no matter how old she gets she still looks so widdle and cute!" The Zero Gravity-user squeaked.

"I can imagine." Momo chuckled. "How is being married?"

"Izuku is doing great! We've been trying to find a balance in our schedules to do romantic stuff. Dates and all that." Ochako said. She twirled a long strand of her brunette hair poking out from her helmet.

"Right. Good. Now, how are you doing?" Momo smirked.

"Me? Geez, I'm exhausted! Work and online classes here and there and raising Eri and being married. Ugh! I love it but it's a lot." She vented so openly. She knew Momo, like she had a calm therapist-like demeanor when listening to her friends.

"Y'know, I have my personal opinions on things but I've supported you and Izuku since you got engaged. I think you're being stretched a little thin here." The tall Creation Quirk-user counseled.

"You think so?" Ochako asked.

"You've taken on so many responsibilities at such a young age all at once. I can relate, sweetie." Momo explained. "We're the same age. Both still new in the world of heroes, and contribution to society."

Ochako sighed.

"I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life. I want to offer some advice." Momo stopped to explain. "I'm saying you need breaks. Do you feel rejuvenated by Izuku?"

"Yeah, I mean, I love being with him and-"

"Do you feel he rejuvenates you? Or do you feel it takes more energy to spend time with him?" Momo emphasized narrowing her eyebrows.

Ochako blushed in shame. "Well, no. Yeah it's nice to be with him but it does feel like it takes some work."

"That's what I thought. It's nothing against him. It's just that you need a vacation. Or at least breaks." The taller dark haired woman suggested.

"I can't just take a break." The brunette sighed.

"Then make what you can feel like a break from the other tasks you need to do." Momo said. "For example, your 'shift' is to be here at the festival with us and the international heroes and politicians. Let's make it fun. Get some food. Go find some competitions and demonstrate our Quirks."

Ochako seemed to brighten up hearing that idea. "Yeah. Yeah! Let's do it!" She pumped her fists enthusiastically.

The two friends began to explore the convention center together laughing and talking. There were heroes old and young, from local Japanese cities, and from all sorts of countries. Ochako even saw a few Hero Teams consisting of couples, siblings, and even families.

"Hey ladies."

Ochako and Momo turned to see a rough looking woman about their age dressed in a blue aviator's jacket, a matching mask that covered her eyes and tipped with spikes, incredibly short dark brown hair, spiked leather boots that reached almost to her knees, and exposed arms covered in tattoos of rosebushes and thorns.

"You can skip the lines to check out my gun show, if you'd like." She smirked. Judging by her accent, and her attitude, she was probably American.

Momo frowned. "I'm dating someone, thank you."

"What, you're dating each other? I don't mind." The woman shrugged.

"No, it's a guy. He's on patrol." Momo said.

Ochako simply pointed her knuckles at the woman, showing her small but noticeable wedding ring.

"Damn. Thought I found a good catch. Japan is full of nice bodies." The woman sighed and approached them. "Well if I can't flirt with you, I can challenge you. I like it when ladies watch me compete. But I also like when I got good competition. For years, Japan has housed the best of the best. But I think it's finally my year to shine."

Representing America: The spunky mouth hero: RipJaw. Her Quirk: Fly Trap; she can sprout a large sharp-toothed mouth anywhere on her body, most often from her own mouth and lunge it forward as far as four yards (3.66 meters).


	10. Chapter 10: Team Sparring

"Now, RipJaw. Don't you get all rough and tough with these here fine young gals." A gentleman noticeably a few years older than the spunky American hero instructed. He was dressed with a large cowboy hat, a grey businessman's suit, and a large metal plate that wrapped around his enormous stomach.

"Come on, Gutsy! I need to get my name out there somehow! Besides, it would be a crime to go easy on these babes." The girl RipJaw explained.

"What challenges are there?" Ochako asked.

RipJaw turned toward her and smirked. "Y'all do sparring here?" She asked.

"We did mostly back in high school, during the sports festival." Momo said.

"Perfect. Why don't we do a team spar?" RipJaw cocked her pierced eyebrow.

"Oh uh..." Ochako looked at Momo. "We're not a Hero Team. We're just friends."

"Neither am I a team with Gutsy here." RipJaw rolled her eyes. "It'll just be for grabbing attention. Then we can get serious as individuals after. We're all here to make friends, am I right?"

"I guess so." Ochako shrugged.

"It's also good practice as heroes. We're paired with random heroes all the time. Our Quirks may not always be super compatible but that doesn't mean we can't fulfill our duties." Momo added.

"Exactly!" RipJaw pointed to her. "You sure you're not single?" Her eyes happened to go a little low down Momo's chest.

"Y-Yes!" Momo blurted with a light blush. "Quit doing that!"

"RipJaw, don't objectify her. Looks like she only wears that because of her Quirk." The hero known as Gutsy said.

"Oh yeah that reminds me. Schools like UA are often at a disadvantage. Same with successful and popular heroes. Everyone knows their Quirks, and therefore, their weaknesses." RipJaw's tone changed to almost sound sinister. "Don't go easy on me either, girlies."

Gutsy pulled her away to set up the next Team Sparring match. She left still eyeing them.

"She creeps me out." Momo shuddered. "I only thought I'd get looks like that from perverted men..."

Ochako put her arm around her tall friend to comfort her.

"This could be fun, Momo. Remember? It's like a vacation."

"When it comes to people staring at me, I don't get a vacation." Momo sighed.

"Hmm. Maybe study some of the early female heroes and how they handled creepy fans and perverts." Ochako said.

"It has been a while since I got to study... I already graduated college with honors and I've just been devoting my time to hero work...and Shouto."

"Wait you're already graduated from college?!" Ochako gasped.

"Online courses, yes. I aced everything within just one year." Momo shrugged.

"And yet you were telling me to take things slow?! What next, is Shouto planning on proposing to you?!" Ochako frowned at her.

Momo blushed heavily, feeling both called out for hypocrisy and being reminded of the possibility within hers and Shouto's relationship.

"You're not one of those couples that plans ahead for that moment, are you?" Ochako asked.

"W-Well... I don't see the problem with it. I love Shouto, the moment he proposes, just because it may be planned doesn't mean we love each other any less." She explained, regaining some composure.

"Gals! We're up!" Gutsy called to them.

RipJaw made eye contact with them beside him and gave them two gestures with her fingers. The first was something that hinted at sexual acts, the second was her finger gliding across her throat.

Ochako and Momo shared a gulp before approaching the raised platform.

It was shaped and positioned exactly like the squared space in the sports festival, where they would fight one on one.

"The rules are simple. Two teams work together to knock each other out. If both members of a team manage to knock both opponents out of the space or subdue them, that team wins. The match will go on until both members of one team are out of bounds or knocked out cold!" The announcer called from a megaphone. "You are free to use your Quirks as long as you keep it inside the square! Unlike the UA and US Hero School sports festivals, the audience here is much closer to the ring so keep it in close!"

Ochako and Momo positioned themselves a couple meters apart, opposite of RipJaw and Gutsy who stood a few meters apart facing them.

"Ready? G-"

-BOOOM!-

A loud piercing explosion blasted from the far end of the convention center. The cloud of smoke produced then began to expand and stretch throughout the enormous building until it floated above everyone inside and dissipated in the air.

People everywhere coughed and gagged. Some were screaming in agony.

Ochako herself suddenly felt very sick in her stomach, like she used her Quirk too much. The way she felt when she was a very young girl discovering the limits of her powers.

Momo groaned and stumbled on her feet. "Wh-What is this?!" She coughed.

Visibility started to return as the cloud disappeared quickly. But the sickening feelings remained in everyone.

RipJaw roared out in pain as she activated her Quirk. Her mouth expanded to gigantic proportion, filled with razor sharp teeth that began to shrink back to normal as soon as they were unleashed.

"Why can't I use my Quirk?! What the hell?!" She yelled out.

Ochako looked around. From their position in the convention center on the raised platform, she could see everyone in the center was experiencing similar symptoms. Vomiting, moaning and groaning, all signs of showing pain.

Across the giant room, she saw one person where the blast occurred. A man stood tall unaffected by the gas. He was wearing a bird-like mask and dressed in a hat and trench-coat, staring right back at her.

"M-Momo!" She called for her friend. "Th-There's a man over there... He's...responsible!" She blurted out.

Clenching her fists, she tried focusing on breathing and after a moment, the pain went away. Whatever was in the gas, she can't use her Quirk. But she can use her training.

Using the energy she was grateful to still have, she climbed down the platform and ran after the masked man.

He saw her jump down from the platform curiously. Then he became a little wary when he could see her weaving her way through booths and hundreds of sickened heroes and politicians. The look on her face was one of pure intimidating determination. It burned in her eyes and if he was anymore of a coward than a mercenary, he would have wet himself.

Instead, despite his much braver persona, he turned around and began to run away, abandoning the villain with the Quirk who could manipulate vapors who was just another one affected by the gas in the crowd.


	11. Chapter 11: E Pluribus Unum

So this unknown villain's Quirk is disguising him as someone else.

Then why was he so fast?! The towering tattooed enemy launched himself toward Izuku at speeds that match his own with One For All.

He didn't even have time to call Hansuke by his hero name. "Warpi, get out of he-!"

Izuku tried blocking an attack, but the force felt like a freight train.

The villain backhanded him, breaking the sound barrier as it hit him across his jaw and sending him right through the trunk of a tree.

"DEKU!" Hansuke shouted.

The villain quickly turned to him and began to charge at him too.

Hansuke reacted faster, snapping his fingers up at his ears and stopping time.

The villain was moving so fast that even in frozen time, Hansuke could see him running in slow motion in his direction.

Something felt very wrong. There was a twitch in the villain's body as his nine eyes locked on the boy. And suddenly his whole body twitched forward a little faster, and again, and again.

It was like he was trying to forge his way into Hansuke's plane of time-stopping existence by force. Who was this villain?

Hansuke rushed over to where Izuku was lying in the woods. He was hurt but still awake and seemed to be trying to get up. The young intern snapped his fingers to resume time.

"Deku, we have no time! We have to get out of here!" He shouted.

Izuku activated One For All and stood up much quicker. "Alright, that's it. Use your Quirk to find reinforcements. This guy is fast but I bet I can put him down quickly. He's using momentum to power his hits but I-"

"It's not just that... I saw him coming at me in time-lock. It's like he was trying to stop time himself..."

"Maybe he's a Noumu of some kind..." Izuku theorized. "Whatever he is, I'm taking him down. Now go!" Izuku ordered.

As Hansuke activated his Quirk and disappeared, the large villain ripped through the trees and charged Izuku again.

The young hero turned and swung his leg around for a roundhouse kick.

"SMASH!" He shouted.

His leg met with the monster's odd-shaped head and sent his body tumbling back into the clear space they were originally in.

"Dammit, I forgot about the other villain!" Izuku realized out loud.

He rushed to the clearing to find the Overgrowth villain unconscious and tied up in his own vines. "Hansuke, I underestimate you too much." He said proudly.

"I wasn't able to get a good look into your eyes."

Izuku turned to the villain getting back up.

"In every warrior I've faced on this planet, I've discovered impressive powers. But when I looked into your eyes I saw nothing." The villain hissed.

"Who are you?" Izuku asked. "Identify yourself! Who made you?!"

"You think I'm something you're used to? Something you've faced before? The universe made me. And the universe sent me. I am Promethys, the giver of power." He said with a booming voice. As he spoke, his eyes lit up.

Izuku gasped and lunged out of the way as nine lasers blasted from his eyes in his direction, torching the ground and even digging up the soil and rocks.

"Lasers, disguise, super speed, how are you doing that?!"

Promethys didn't answer anymore. He charged Izuku again and as he did, a large glowing blade grew out of his arm pointed to swing and hopefully cut something important on the hero.

Izuku jumped up out of the way and activated Black Whip to pull him through the trees. This fight was reminding him of his battles with the Noumu, and even with All For One himself. He was in no condition now to battle such a powerful being.

Still, Promethys chased after him, jumping up into the air and sprouting large wings from his shoulder blades.

"Aw come on!" Izuku yelled.

Suddenly, the ground below them froze to solid ice, and a wall of ice rose up from it.

Izuku grappled to one of the large spikes and held on as he watched Shoto Todoroki slide up the wall with his left side on fire.

"Shoto! Be careful! This is a powerful villain! He's got multiple Quirks!" Izuku warned.

Shoto passed him by. "Nothing we haven't faced before. Get yourself up and I'll assist you."

Izuku pulled himself to the wall's more stable ground and followed after his friend.

Promethys landed on the very top of the wall and looked over the view rather than engaging with the two.

Shoto continued to run up toward the towering villain. "As professional heroes of Japan, we order you to stand down and place you under arrest!" He unleashed a wave of ice that stuck Promethys in place.

"Such a beautiful planet, you have..." He simply said as Shoto came within hearing distance.

Izuku stood beside him.

"Have any information on this crook?" Shoto asked.

"No-Nothing." Izuku stuttered. "He came at me disguised as Nucleon. I think Nucleon is still behind this but this guy came out of no where."

"He doesn't seem to be a Noumu, he has a conscience."

"It would be a shame to see such a beautiful world fall..." Promethys spoke over them. "I'll make you a deal. Allow me to convince as many members of your species to join my cause, and we can continue this fight at a later time."

"I don't care where you came from, that's not how this works." Shoto hissed.

Izuku nodded in agreement.

"You have no idea, do you. Your society has failed to teach you your history. The truth about your...'Quirks'." Promethys lectured.

"He's just another fanatic psychopath." Izuku frowned.

"So then where are you from?" Shoto asked.

"The nether reaches of the cosmos. The dark space between the stars." Promethys said rather impatiently.

"And what are you doing here?" Izuku asked.

"Teaching. Upon arriving here, I began to educate myself on your histories. Lies. Every major religion and belief in your world says that there will come a day when the good are saved, and the evil are destroyed. I am that day." He declared.

"This is freaking me out." Izuku shuddered. "If he were any low-level drug addicted criminal saying this, I wouldn't take it seriously. But he did just use four Quirks on me."

"Oh I have so much more than that." Promethys curved his large mouth into a smile.

His body began to melt and drip through cracks in the ice far out of the reach of the heroes and soon, any trace of his body disappeared.

"We need to look into this, Deku." Shoto said. "For now, I got Hansuke's message. He's been teleporting all over the forest telling pro-heroes about what happened. I was just about to go look for you when I found you high up in the air above me anyway."

"Right, right." Izuku sighed.

"You really shouldn't just let your intern go running around like that."

"No offense, Shoto, but have you ever interned before?" Izuku asked.

"No. Seems a bit early for that, don't you think?" Shoto asked.


	12. Chapter 12: For the Rest of Your Lives

Ochako was in hot pursuit of the bird-masked villain.

He charged through the crowds of people inflicted with the gas's effects with amazing speed, although Ochako wasn't so quick to assume evasion skills were his Quirk.

Speaking of Quirks, she was feeling better the less she tried to use her Quirk. In chasing after the villain, she felt her strength and stamina regathering inside her, but it was when she used her Quirk that she felt like dying.

He rushed outside and back behind the convention center.

Ochako ran outside and frantically looked around, spotting him as he disappeared in the alleyway between buildings.

Typical of villains to go someplace they can hide, but can't run. She needed to be careful. She had no idea what he was capable of. Still, she ran to the alley and cut the corner seeing him crouched down.

"You! As a professional hero of Japan, I order you to surrender! Now show me your hands!" She shouted and marched closer.

"You're the wife of the hero Deku, aren't you?" He asked, not bothering to turn and look at her or heed her demands.

She felt a bit offended that he ignored her, while also only guessing her identity based on her relationship with the much more flashy super-powered hero she was married to.

"To you, I'm Uravity. Now hands up!" She glared at him with a slight pink glow in her cheeks.

The doctor sighed as he stood up and turned around. "No harm done to you. I was simply testing out a new toy."

"You could have poisoned hundreds of people!" She was not in the mood to talk to this man.

"But that's not the purpose. In fact I think you can make a guess as to what it was." He explained.

"Yeah, you're just another Yakuza of the Eight Precepts of Death trying to resurrect your dead cause." Ochako continued to march closer to him.

The doctor sighed and raised his hands in a sign of surrender, causing her to stop for a moment.

Where his fingers should be were eight prosthetics.

"Don't you want to know why I did this?" He asked.

"I'm not a detective, I wear no badge. I'm just a hero, here to turn you in to the proper authorities." She said.

"Fair enough. Then I won't tell." He said.

What kind of game was he playing here?

"Mrs. Midoriya, do you know why your husband wasn't feeling well the other morning?" He asked.

"You have the right to remain silent." She hissed.

"It's because I was testing the virus." He smirked in his mask, although she couldn't see.

Ochako's eyes opened wider. Her brow softened on her face.

"It was a success, although his immune system knocked it out within a few hours. Just now, I inflicted hundreds with a virus stronger than the immune system..." He chuckled a little.

He knew what this meant. If that monster of a villain and his cult leaders really had the power, they could make some changes in the world using his virus. And if they change the world, he can fulfill his dreams of being a doctor again. The thought made him more confident than anything had in years.

Ochako charged him to arrest him with a set of handcuffs inside a packet on her hips.

The villain suddenly extended his prosthetic fingers into sharp points and swung at her defensively.

Thanks to her training, she was able to swing her body out of the way of the long thin spikes. She landed on her hands, then sprung back up and flipped on her feet out of his reach.

"I don't need my Quirk to take you out." She glared at him.

"Very well, heroine." The Inflictor said, retracting his claws but keeping the sharp points out at the tips.

Just as Ochako was about to engage with him, he was suddenly slammed off of his feet, knocking his back against the wall of the building.

Ochako looked around for what made him fall back and saw Momo behind her carrying a small cannon with straps around her shoulders.

She was in a lot of visual pain and her exposed skin appeared to be covered in red marks.

"Ha... That's...what happens. When you try to use your Quirk..." Inflictor coughed and tried to stand back up.

"Mo- Creati!" Ochako called to her worriedly.

"I... c-couldn't just...let them get away..." She strained as she could barely stand with the cannon after firing it. "A real hero...would sacrifice every comfort to stop a villain..."

Ochako gave her a sympathetic look then quickly ran to the villain and pinned him down as he was trying to get back up.

"We're done here." She frowned at him.

"Such a rookie mistake... My escape route had to do with my partner." Inflictor sighed.

"The gas guy... He put the disease in his gas and spread it through the ventilation system." Momo explained weakly and walked slowly to help.

The two girls managed to subdue him with handcuffs and walked him out to the awaiting and confused authorities, all positioned out in the front of the convention center with various numbers rushing inside.

"This isn't over, heroines!" Inflictor shouted as he was being walked to the police car. "Only I have the cure! You'll be stuck with that disease for the rest of your lives so say goodbye to having Quirks!"

"Shut it!" The police officer shouted at him and shoved him through the open door into his seat.

"We'll leave it to the police to get that cure..." Momo sighed. "For now..."

"For now, we're getting you medical attention. You don't look so good, Yao-momo." Ochako said sternly. She signaled for medical personnel who arrived on the scene to come inspect them too.

"I wonder if anywhere else has been affected by this." Momo sighed as a medical technician began a blood test with her.

"I sure hope not..." Ochako sighed as well. Her thoughts turned to Izuku and Hansuke, and everyone else on patrol.

Momo thought of Shoto and began to tear up. "What good am I if I'm Quirkless?..."

"If this is about Shoto, then you're just as good as you've always been to him. I'm confident in that." Ochako answered grabbing her friend's hand in support.

"You sure you ladies aren't a couple?" A spunky raspy voice asked behind them.

Looking back, any excitement they had left died as they met eyes with RipJaw who gave them a cocky smile and a wink.


	13. Chapter 13: Overlapping Shift

Hours passed and many of the remaining escaped convicts were recaptured and returned to the police.

However, no one found any signs of Promethys or Nucleon, or anyone affiliated to them directly.

What happened stuck inside Izuku's head, even as their patrolling came to an end and it was time to join his wife at the festival.

Hansuke and Shoto sat with him in the same row on the train then boat to I-Island.

"Izuku, whoever Promethys says he is, whatever his Quirks, we will find him. Whether it's other heroes or us, he can't hide forever." Shoto said, seeing his friend fail to relax after their encounter hours ago.

"I know, I just... His powers reminded me of All For One... I never wanted to face off against anyone with that kind of strength after..."

Shoto watched as he failed to finish his sentence. "Yes. It was a terrifying experience. I don't blame you."

Hansuke looked over at his heroes and sat forward in his seat in thought. He remembered hearing about the events during their first and second years of UA. And All For One.

Promethys was very similar to him, having multiple Quirks, and a titanium belief that what he was doing was superior.

The events almost made his mother cancel his plans to go to Japan in the first place.

"Izuku, your intern could use some good news. Be the example of how to handle these feelings." Shoto reminded him.

Izuku sat up in his seat. "You're right." He turned to Hansuke. "You are going to love the International Hero Festival!"

Hansuke rolled his eyes. "When we actually get there! We've been talking about it all day."

"Relax, kid. We're here now!" Izuku said looking out and watching the boat dock at the island. Not far beyond was the gigantic convention center with spotlights and fireworks going off.

"Awesome!" Hansuke cheered. "And we can use our Quirks here, right?"

"Yes! Just...be careful about it." Izuku chuckled.

"Right!" Hansuke jumped up from his seat and suddenly disappeared, reappearing at the edge of the boat waiting for the gate to open.

"Just enjoy our time here. It's a great opportunity for all of us." Shoto said giving Izuku a smile and a pat on his back.

"You're right." Izuku smiled back. "Nothing can ruin this day anymore than what's already happened."

~~~~~~~

"ATTACK?!" Izuku gasped overtly loudly at his wife.

"Yeah. Some villain sprayed the whole convention center with a gas..." Ochako sighed.

"We managed to catch him and he's since been arrested, but..." Momo added.

"What's wrong? What was in the gas?" Shoto asked. He could see the sadness in his girlfriend's eyes and lifted a hand against her cheek.

"He made us as good as Quirkless..." Momo sniffed, already succumbing to her emotions.

Izuku turned to Ochako and saw she was confirming it. "He made some kind of sickness that attacks Quirks... I felt so sick to my stomach trying to use my Quirk. It was only when I stopped that I felt better..."

The heroes looked around the center and could see the depressing atmosphere beyond just the girls.

The festival might as well have not been continued. Not many people were too happy with what happened. Some were trying to continue the good atmosphere but what good was it?

Top heroes from around the world gathered together in one place, with nearly vulnerable representatives of their corresponding nations who were just as powerless.

"As long as the disease is in me, I can't be a hero, Izuku..." Ochako cried and hid herself in his chest.

Izuku held her tightly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help..."

"There's nothing you could've done." The American hero RipJaw sighed behind them.

He turned to see her. "You're the American hero, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. And I'm not too happy to see that these gals really aren't single. But at least they've got someone." She sighed.

"I'm confused." Shoto said.

"It's nothing." Momo frowned.

Hansuke watched the group then looked around, feeling sympathetic himself about the situation. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his Quirk to a disease, unleashed by a villain.

"Who was the villain that attacked?" Shoto asked.

"A guy with some disease Quirk I think." Momo sniffed and wiped her eyes. "He had a medieval plague doctor mask, and prosthetic retractable fingers."

"He seemed to give up so easily." Ochako added. "Like no matter what we did to him, it didn't matter because he already won..."

Izuku continued to hold her in support.

"Hey." Hansuke addressed the group. "Things aren't looking too good with our Quirks... but it's not Quirks that make a hero. Can't we still have fun here?"

Izuku smiled big. It's not the Quirks that make a hero. He's right. If All Might saw Quirkless, timid Izuku as a hero, then anyone could still be. At least for tonight on an occasion as special as this.

Ochako was thinking the same thing. She remembered when Izuku shared his secret to her about his past and that it doesn't take a powerful Quirk to be a hero. It wasn't enough to cure her of her life-changing reality, but it did give her a smile to know that at such a young age, Hansuke knew that.

"Yeah. Let's go meet some heroes! You're gonna love the people from America, Deku!" Ochako making herself bubbly and happy again.

She walked along and pulled on her husband's arm, dragging him away.

"Hey wait for me!" Hansuke said running after them.

"Are you alright, Momo?" Shoto asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Momo answered. She forced a small smile and looked into his mismatched eyes. "Enough about what happened here, how was the patrol? Did you catch all the escapees?"

"It went okay. But we didn't catch all of them. Nucleon has escaped. And a villain who may be responsible for the prison break fought me and Midoriya with several Quirks." He said.

Shoto never shied away from cutting to the truth, even if it wasn't the most appropriate time.

Momo chose to ignore the severity of it. "Okay then... Maybe we should join the others."

"What's wrong?" Shoto asked.

"N-Nothing, babe." She sighed and pulled him along. She was often the one to teach him what was and wasn't appropriate to share, but she wasn't in the mood for anything else negative for the whole day.

RipJaw watched the group leave and frowned. "What an odd bunch. I might've dodged a bullet there." She shrugged and posed, about to march off. "Now off to find some sexy heroines to fu-"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Her fellow American hero in his fancy suit and matching cowboy hat shouted, slamming his hands on her shoulders. "You've had me worried sick! I've been looking for you ever since the attack!"

"That's because I've been avoiding you for hours..." She whispered.


	14. Chapter 14: Lightening the Mood

"So he got himself captured?" Nucleon asked, rather disappointedly.

"It seems that way." Promethys answered.

Both of them now stood on top of a low roof, no more than a four story building in the suburbs before the bigger cities.

"What kind of fool lets himself get arrested after one test?" The reactor-villain asked.

"One who has better judgment of his business partners. And one who has already won. That test was successful. Now most of the world's greatest warriors are powerless." Promethys said. "This 'test' will result in some...beautifully disastrous consequences worldwide."

"But, Master. We still need him. He used all the disease at the festival. There are still dozens more heroes and forces that can stop us." Nucleon complained.

"Patience, my disciple. All we have to do is free him. There was no easy way of escape where our Inflictor was. But where he is now...is ready for harvest..." The towering otherworldly villain bellowed as he looked on toward the distant skyscrapers, watching the sun slowly descend behind Mount Fuji.

"As I left you in that prison for a year's time I learned many things about your world." Promethys went on.

Nucleon joined him at the edge of the roof, watching the sunset and listening.

"I saw many things change. And I saw many things remain the same. And some, I observed, may have been the same for a long...time." He sighed. "Of the planets I've claimed, this one will surely be a challenge. It's why we enlisted the help of Inflictor, it's why I will not take it like I've taken others. There are still mighty warriors who stand guard. Some of the strongest enemies I've encountered."

Nucleon smirked. "Master, if you're referring to that twerp Deku and his half and half friend, then I hate to say it but-"

"Every world has a warrior...stronger than the others...who stands for a worthy cause. The only thing that stands a chance against me is a cause as mighty as mine." Promethys explained abruptly. "Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and so on."

"You seemed to first tell me about Midoriya with anger in your voice... Why is that?" Nucleon asked.

"...He has no birth-powers. His mother could attract objects to her, his father could breathe fire. I watched him battle me at speeds faster than eyes move yet I could see nothing inside him."

"What the hell does that mean?" Nucleon asked, feeling a slight sense of dread with this information.

"There is something about him that angers me... His cause, his strength, his tricks. He has the strength to stop me." Promethys declared.

Nucleon's eyes grew large. "D-Don't worry, Sensei! I will destroy him before he gets the chance!"

"As we carry on with our plans, we must keep a special eye out for Izuku Midoriya," Promethys's voice grew louder as he continued. "And I will find the source of his power even if I have to tear his body apart molecule by molecule!" He roared out with a booming voice that rattled the closest windows.

Nucleon collapsed to his knees and bowed submissively to the giant.

"Get up. It's time to move." Promethys ordered.

~~~~~~~

Izuku and Ochako walked around the convention center, hands clasped with fingers intertwined. They tried everything to enjoy the festival and their time together, but the overall atmosphere was much lower than it was earlier, before the attack.

Nobody could use their Quirks so much of it was all talk and no show.

There were many heroes from all over the world with incredible costumes, names, and reputations. But any attempt at demonstrating Quirks was met with individual pain that made them turn red and bend over clutching their stomachs.

Izuku helped many of those people from just falling over.

"I have an idea." Ochako perked up after seeing her husband help yet another hero from collapsing.

"What is it?" He turned and asked.

"You should spar with Todoroki! Show these heroes what you both can do!" She offered.

"Me and Todoroki? Oh but people already saw us spar in the sports festivals, remember?" Izuku said.

"Yeah, but this place could use some Quirks, and what more impressive and flashy Quirks than yours and Shoto's?" His adorable wife asked, seemingly making her eyes look bigger and twinkle.

Izuku blushed and looked away. "Ochako..." He chuckled. "O-Okay. Okay, I'll ask him."

"Hell no. If anyone's sparring with you, it's me!" A familiar intimidating voice hissed loudly at the couple.

Izuku turned his head to see Katsuki marching over in his hero costume. "I was stuck patrolling the city until they let me come here. They caught most of the escaped convicts now so I can finally relax. That is until I found out they didn't prepare right and put all the toughest heroes far away from where an attack actually did take place."

Ochako lowered her head.

"If any of us were here, the same thing would have happened to us as well, Kacchan." Izuku informed him.

"It was in a gas, right? All you had to do was hold your breath and take out the villain faster."

"Easy for you to say." Ochako glared at him.

Katsuki wanted to retort at her but stopped himself. He learned his lesson about picking on someone he thought was Quirkless before. Now Ochako was basically Quirkless. And although he knew her to be one of the toughest girls he's ever met, he figured she didn't need that kind of insult right now. Not something he would take well if it happened to him. Izuku had a point, as much as he hated it.

"Anyway I can see that not many of us have our Quirks. And I want everyone here to see me beat you with my Quirk. So what do you say, Deku?" Katsuki asked rolling his eyes.

Izuku looked from Ochako to his rival. "I accept." He said giving the blonde a familiar look of determination to win.

Ochako gulped. She never liked seeing them go against each other. But at least their relationship has never been better, even if they aren't exactly friends.


	15. Chapter 15: Deku VS Bakugo

"No more interruptions. I've been hunting pathetic criminals all day. I turned in twenty eight to the police. How many did you catch?" Katsuki asked from the other end of the sparring space.

Izuku stood with one leg back, on the other side. "We successfully caught one."

"We? You caught one and it wasn't even you alone?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Don't do this to me now. Every time we've gone against each other, whether I win or lose, you've always found the way to embarrass me about it."

"One criminal or hundreds, beating me will get you noticed either way, Kacchan." Izuku smirked. "But if I were to beat you, think of the attention I'd get."

Katsuki roared and blasted explosions from his hands facing back, propelling his body forward.

Izuku activated One For All and met his rival halfway across.

A crowd quickly began to appear and some were already cheering. Not just because they were among the few who still could use their Quirks, but also because of the incredible power they both possessed.

Izuku was able to swiftly grab Katsuki and fling his body down on the ground.

However, Katsuki had trained against close-combat attacks and twisted his body around, blasting Izuku's face and redirecting the slam on his opponent, slamming Izuku on to his back.

They crowd cheered louder.

"C'mon, babe! You got this! Kick his ass!" Ochako shouted in support of Izuku.

"Heh. Of all the times we fought, you only beat me once." Katsuki said planting the bottom of his boot on to Izuku's chest.

Izuku groaned and coughed before gripping the boot with both hands. "You talk too much, Kacchan."

Using his power again, he threw Katsuki's foot off then kicked himself up, raising his fist and meeting Katsuki's already disoriented face.

Katsuki groaned and flew back to the other end of the ring.

Izuku chuckled and stood tall.

Katsuki groaned in anger and scrambled to his feet. "You're dead, Midoriya!"

Izuku activated Black Whip and launched the intertwined black tendrils at the explosion-Quirk user.

He tried to torch the whip with his blasts but it still managed to wrap around his arm securely.

The green-haired man turned his body around, exaggerating his recoil and calling Black Whip back, along with Katsuki's body. He jumped forward and planted his knee into his opponent's stomach, stopping him in midair and sending him to the ground below on to his knees.

"Surrender?" Izuku asked.

Katsuki sputtered and wretched as he clutched his stomach. "Very impressive..." He moaned. "But I will never admit surrender..."

Izuku sighed. "Kacchan, when are you going to learn that-"

BOOM

"You talk too much!" Katsuki interrupted him by raising his hands and blasting Izuku with all his might.

Izuku was sent flying back to the end of the ring, hitting the ropes that separated them from out of bounds.

Katsuki roared and got to his feet, quickly rushing after Izuku to finish him off.

"Get up, sensei!" Hansuke called from the crowd.

A few others called to Izuku, voting on him in favor of Katsuki.

Izuku's eyes grew red and blasted the incoming enemy with Fire Sight, torching the front of his hero costume and knocking him back.

"How many Quirks does this guy have?!" Someone asked.

Ochako chuckled. "Oh, Deku's just both terribly lucky and unlucky."

"Dammit!" Katsuki roared.

It gave Izuku just enough time to get back up and charge him again, this time, focusing on using his legs, to avoid overusing his arms.

He swung his leg from the side.

"SMAAAASH!"

Katsuki easily dodged the kick and leapt up, blasting at Izuku, only to be dodged back.

The two battled in close quarters, at very fast speeds. It quickly turned into a game of reflexes. Like the Western party game Ninja but at much faster speeds than most others could produce.

"It's like watching the moon battle the sun..." Hansuke gasped.

"Yeah they're both very impressive." Ochako said, not daring to let her eyes leave the battle for a second.

Shoto Todoroki sighed. "I don't often fight like that."

"Because you're more mid to long range, sweetie." Momo added. "You'd either freeze them or fry them before they got close."

"Do you think I should work on my close ranges?"

"Well, you could always freeze or fry if they're touching you. It's no wonder you and they made the Big Three our senior year of UA." Momo complimented.

Shoto gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, Momo."

As visually amazing as the battle was, it was slowly turning into that of a stalemate. And the crowd could see it. Their moves and abilities were becoming repetitive.

It was there that Katsuki could see in the crowd boredom.

"They're sick of us beating on each other with no results, nerd! Time to end this!" He shouted.

"Couldn't have said it any better myself, Kacchan!" Izuku shouted back.

They each struck a blow to one another's faces. Izuku's foot to Katsuki's face, and Katsuki's fist to Izuku's cheek.

Using Black Whip, Izuku grabbed Katsuki and simply swung him around a few times, before letting him go and throwing him past the ropes and out of bounds.

"Ground Zero is out of bounds. The winner is Deku." The announcer said, just as disappointed with the anti-climatic ending as most of the crowd was.

Izuku's face dropped to equal disappointment and shame.

"Don't worry, babe! You did great! That's an honorable win in my book!" Ochako shouted.

Hansuke didn't mind how the fight played out. He knew vaguely about the history between Izuku and Katsuki. Despite the rather boring chain of events in this one fight, it was a grand victory for team Deku.

Izuku looked over at his few loyal fans and smiled.

"Do a flip!" Hansuke shouted.

"Yeah!" Ochako added.

The victorious hero chuckled then jumped up and performed a flashy backflip with his Quirk, landing hard on his feet proudly.

It was a good break from what was going on in the world.

[Author's Note: I don't often make author notes but I felt I should clarify that Izuku's third Quirk "Fire Sight" is NOT canon. It's not one of his many Quirks, I just made it up to be one. It's years in the future, he's bound to have unlocked more than just Black Whip, and not just because of the plot, but he doesn't use it often. I feel that realistically, each Quirk takes a lot out of him, even with All Might's inherited stamina. Thank you.]


	16. Chapter 16: Foreknowledge

While Katsuki went off to vent about his defeat to Izuku, the green-haired hero rejoined his wife and intern.

"Impressive, Deku." Ochako smirked with her arms folded.

"Y-You think so?" Izuku asked.

"Still as stuttery as ever." She chuckled and gave him a hug.

Izuku smiled with a blush in his cheeks.

They decided together to take advantage of their day and found a decent Chinese food stand.

As Hansuke grabbed his order of food, the couple sat on a bench and ate, almost in silence.

Izuku's mind wandered to the events of this day. Then, finally, it clicked. He'd been so occupied with catching the prisoners, and spending time with Ochako, he forgot about what happened the other night.

"Can you tell me about the villain who attacked the festival today?" He asked.

Ochako, who was resting her head on his shoulder, looked up from her food and chopsticks and into his emerald eyes.

"W-Well he... He was wearing a plague doctor costume, almost like one of the Eight Precepts of Death."

Izuku instantly connected the dots. "He had prosthetic fingers, right?"

She tilted her head at him with a worried look. "Izu..."

"Something happened the other night... Remember when I woke up not feeling very well?" Izuku asked.

Ochako's eyes grew wide.

"In the middle of that night, I had an encounter with a villain in a plague doctor suit, prosthetic fingers, and some sort of illness he stabbed into me... He said it was a test for something..."

Ochako jumped off the bench and slapped him across the face. "You had that happen and you didn't tell me?!"

"I didn't want to worry you! Besides what happened to me wasn't permanent so there was nothing to worry about."

"IT'S PERMANENT TO ME!" She shouted. "It's permanent to us, Izuku! But lucky you! Mr. Symbol of Peace!"

Hansuke looked on at the couple in shock. Izuku knew about this?

Izuku didn't know what to say. He was completely at fault and he knew it.

"I'm sorry..." He sighed.

Ochako just continued to glare at him. "I'm going to spend some time with Momo and the others... See you later, Izuku."

Izuku reached out to her as she turned around and stormed away.

Hansuke approached the hero slowly. "You knew about that guy?" He asked him softly.

Izuku sighed. "Yes. He injected me with something similar the other night, but when I woke up and could use my Quirk again, I didn't bother to tell anyone."

"Didn't you try to stop him?" He asked.

"He overpowered me with whatever he injected me with. I could barely lift a fist to him. Yet, I woke up in my bed again."

"So he must have been testing his virus on you." Hansuke concluded.

"He must have. And it must have just been a prototype to what happened today..." Izuku sighed. "But I should have told Ochako."

"H-Honestly, I've seen this behavior in my mom... When she's had a bad day, no bad news helps at all, even in providing context." Hansuke said with a slight chuckle trying to lighten the mood.

Izuku leaned back on the bench. "This is more than just a bad day. Ochako has bad days... But... She's next to Quirkless now..." It made him feel worse, because he knew exactly how that felt.

"Well they have the villain detained. Maybe we could go interrogate him for answers. M-Maybe a cure." Hansuke suggested.

Izuku looked up, a light gleaming in his eyes. "That's not a bad idea at all. And it'll help the people and the festival here too! The heroes from around the world won't have to go home Quirkless!"

"Let's do it, sensei!" Hansuke reached out.

Izuku clasped his hand in his own and was pulled on to his feet.

"If you're going to interrogate the villain responsible, I'm going with you." Shoto said, seemingly appearing out of no where.

"Whoa." Hansuke jumped.

"What brings you into our conversation?" Izuku asked.

"Ochako seemed upset and wanted to be with Momo so she kicked me out of the circle, so I figured I'd go with you instead." Shoto explained. "And besides, it's the closest thing to revenge I can legally, and morally do on behalf of Momo."

Izuku raised his eyebrow at his good friend. "Good enough for me."

Hansuke smiled. "Two of the best heroes going to interrogate a villain. He's going to shit himself!"

"Hansuke, language. One crude hero is enough." Izuku counseled, gesturing to Katsuki who, in the distance, was challenging other heroes while appearing extremely drunk and using more profanity than usual. Despite his intoxication, he was still winning.

"Let's get going. If I'm right, they sent him to the closest district's jail. And from what I heard, it's where they're housing most of the recaptured convicts, including the one you caught when you encountered that multi-Quirk villain. Perhaps they may have an explanation for themselves." Shoto said.

"And maybe the events are connected!" Hansuke added.

Izuku nodded and threw away the remains of their Chinese food, before they marched toward the exit.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Momo had gathered all their old girl-friends together to help Ochako.

"Ok, who is not here?" Momo asked clasping her hands together like a clam shell.

"Mina and Tooru are out on patrol. They were here earlier this morning and early afternoon." Kyoka Jiro answered.

"That's fine..." Ochako sighed. "Were they here when the attack happened?"

"Well since they are out on patrol, no." Kyoka shrugged.

"Ochako, what happened?" Tsuyu Asui asked.

"It wasn't Izuku, was it?" Kyoka asked.

"N-No... Well, yes it was. I don't know..." Ochako sighed.

Tsuyu put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "We don't expect this of Izuku. He's a good man and especially good to you."

"I did." An uninvited guest added her input behind the girls.

They turned to see RipJaw still confident as ever, leaning against a column.

"Men are pigs. I mean, that's not why I'm gay. But when you see through the eyes of something they want, but something they can never have, you start to notice a thing or two." She smirked.

"You're wrong. I'm mad at Izuku, he made a mistake... But he's not a bad person." Ochako frowned at her.

"You know this girl?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yeah. We're pretty acquainted." RipJaw said keeping her large toothed smile. For a moment, she licked her lips. "By the way, any oof you girls single?"

All of them ignored her and turned back to Ochako.

"Well can you at least point me to some girls looking for some American?" She groaned.

"Anyway, back to what you were saying." Kyoka said.

"I wasn't saying anything. Izuku knew about the villain but didn't tell me." Ochako sighed.

RipJaw listened in the back, still resting on the pillar.

"So he knew the villain would attack here?"

Ochako shook her head. "N-No but he was attacked by the villain a few nights ago. It didn't affect him... So he felt it wasn't necessary to tell me!" She grew mad again.

"I see." Momo said.

"In the world of romance, there is no black and white, good and evil. Either one of you is wrong, or you both are." Tsuyu explained.

"To be frank, it seems like you both are." RipJaw added.

"Would you get lost?!" Kyoka snapped at her.

"Only in your bedsheets." RipJaw chuckled, sticking her tongue out.

"RipJaw! There you are!" Her American partner in his cowboy hat stormed up to her in red-blooded English so thick, they couldn't understand him but her.

"Oh great." She rolled her eyes.

He greeted her in a big bear hug, lifting her off the ground, and carrying her away.

"Dammit! Let me go!" She struggled and squirmed but to no avail. Quirk or not, he had impressive strength to match his XXXL size.

"Honestly, Ochako, she might have a point..." Tsuyu said.

"Izuku didn't know the villain was planning something this big with that disease. After all, Inflictor is a small scale assassin, not a terrorist." Momo explained.

"He still could have thought of that though. Y'know? If I got attacked with something that cancels my Quirk, I'd be on high alert even if the affects wore off." Kyoka added.

"I get it, girls." Ochako sighed. "Maybe I should go apologize to him..."

"Shoto mentioned something about interrogating the villain responsible, Inflictor. I think he took Izuku and Hansuke with him." Momo said.

"Then Momo. You and me, let's go talk to our men and figure this out together."

Momo smiled, knowing how important and precious Ochako's time with other girls meant. "Sounds good to me. Kyoka and Tsuyu. You stay here and scout things out. We'll fill you in on the details first."

"Right." Tsuyu and Kyoka said in unison.


	17. Chapter 17: Interception

Izuku, Shoto, and Hansuke were making their way from the train station to the police station as quickly as they could.

Bystanders watched the trio run by with intrigue. If heroes were in a hurry, it's because there's an emergency. Some took pictures with their phones and cameras.

Hansuke smiled at the attention they were getting.

"The police station is just another block up the road." Shoto informed his unofficial partners.

Suddenly, Izuku felt something. A change in the wind in the air.

"Shoto, duck!" He shouted.

Instinctively, the half-and-half hero listened, ducking and sliding on his feet as a fiery red laser blasted right over where he was standing.

The heroes stopped and turned toward the source.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me..." Izuku gasped.

Promethys stepped out from a narrow side alleyway with all nine of his eyes glowing a pinkish-red. "If you'd like to speak with Inflictor, you'll have to go through me."

"So be it." Shoto declared. "Warpi, use your Quirk to get past this monster. We'll hold him off."

Hansuke took a second to realize Shoto was addressing him. He looked at the hero with concern before nodding.

"Do it, Hansuke. We can take him." Izuku assured him from behind.

The young hero in training nodded again. "Got it!" He said before snapping his fingers, and freezing time.

Promethys's body began to glow. Then jolted forward. And jolted forward again, taking a step.

"H-H-H-a-a-a-n-n-s-s-s-u-u-u-k-k-e." His bellowing voice glitched right into his plane of frozen time.

The villain's body jolted more and more until finally he snapped his fingers and began to move at normal speed.

Hansuke stared at him. "...What the fuck?!"

"Impressive Quirk, boy. With such power, I could win instantly. But opportunities like this should last. So I'll only make this fair." Promethys said, standing between Hansuke and the police station just down the road.

Promethys's body glowed again, his tattoos lit up. "Have you ever fought before in your own plane of existence?" A sharp edge formed from his forearm, extending farther than his hand and ending in a dangerous point.

Hansuke was frozen in place, full of fear in this villain's abilities.

All he could think to do, ironically, was snap his fingers over his ears. This is what he would do when he was a boy, and kids picked on him, thinking he didn't have a cool Quirk. Sometimes no Quirk. He used his power to hide.

He didn't realize it in that childlike moment of weakness, but he snapped back into resumed time.

Izuku launched forward at Promethys and prepared to strike him with his leg, when Promethys snapped out of frozen time instantly and blocked the attack with his massive arm, absorbing the impact like it was nothing.

Then the villain raised his other arm and punched Izuku, using the kinetic energy from his own attack against him.

"Shock absorption!" Shoto shouted.

"D-Deku! He followed me into my plane!" Hansuke warned.

Izuku turned to Hansuke and stared in horror. "Shoto! Don't let him lock eyes with you!"

Shoto nodded and launched a wall of ice toward the villain, completely engulfing his body in ice.

"I'll hold him in here. You go Hansuke! Izuku, cover me." He ordered.

"Right!" Izuku and Hansuke shouted in unison and darted in different directions.

Hansuke began to run toward the jail when a green laser broke across the ground in front of him.

"Tisk tisk tisk!" Nucleon wiggled his finger appearing in the street.

"Oh great." The boy sighed.

"Miss me?" Nucleon asked.

"No." Hansuke snapped.

"Ohhh. Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" He asked.

"Is this all some joke to you?!" Hansuke frowned at him.

"How would you feel if your god was fighting beside you this moment? I feel great!" Nucleon smiled.

"There's no way he's-"

"He is the reason I opened a black hole over Tokyo." Nucleon smirked and pointed at Promethys, who had since exploded out of the ice and was now battling Izuku and Shoto.

Hansuke stared at the titans fighting each other.

"How else could he just instantly have all these powers? Including yours." He asked.

The intern took a step back. "You're not going to win. What do you want with that villain in the jail?"

"We hired him to do what he did at the festival." Nucleon explained. "Now we need him to make more of the virus so we can mass-produce it. Now scram, little hero."

Hansuke raised his fingers to snap when he felt the ground beneath his feet crumble in a circle.

Promethys had his arm outstretched, controlling the earth under Hansuke. He flung his arm up and a large column of rock launched from below, sending the intern into the air.

"Hansuke!" Izuku shouted and whipped Black Whip around Promethys's arm, twisting it back in an unnatural way with his strength.

Promethys roared out in pain and stumbled aside as his arm snapped back into place by itself. His eyes darted toward Izuku and the rest of him followed.

Shoto's entire left side lit up in flames and blasted forward torching the villain from head to toe.

Izuku jumped up and caught Hansuke before he hit the ground but both of them were knocked to the ground by Nucleon's fist to his face.

Izuku groaned and tried to get up until Nucleon swiftly slammed his boot against his throat and held it in place.

"Deku!" Hansuke shouted.

Nucleon blasted in his direction to silence him. But Hansuke dodged the blast, rolling away into a parked car.

Police sirens were heard from the jail as armed officers approached the area.

Nucleon's body began to glow green. "I'll make quick work of anyone who interferes in our plans."

Before he could harm anyone else, Hansuke appeared from out of thin air and slammed his fist into his cheek, knocking him off balance, allowing Izuku to breathe again and swipe at his ankles, knocking him on his back.

Izuku used Black Whip to bind the villain on the ground by his arms and legs.

Then all eyes turned to Promethys holding Shoto by his neck.

"Allow me to pass to the jail, or I will kill Shoto Todoroki here and now." He threatened. His free arm had a large blade growing out of it pointed at Shoto's gut.

Izuku looked around first to see how Shoto could have let his guard down and noticed that he wasn't using as hot of flames as usual due to the narrow street and the civilians still fleeing the area. Not to mention how close he, Hansuke, and Nucleon were, with the incoming police forces.

"Tell them all to let me pass in peace, or I'll end this warrior's life." Promethys repeated.


	18. Chapter 18: Doctor Akihisa

Several minutes before...

Ochako and Momo ran from the train station, taking a different route from the men to the jail.

"Ochako... We're doing this to fix things, right. But you shouldn't just forgive Izuku so quickly." Momo said.

"I don't know..." Ochako sighed. She thought about how she could forgive him, but kept dwelling on the fact that he didn't sympathize with her losing the ability to use her Quirk.

"We are going to interrogate that villain, before the boys do." The Zero-gravity user said.

"Sounds good to me." Momo shrugged. "I hate to see you two fight, but he needs time to see what he did wrong before you give him forgiveness."

"I...I'm sure he knows..." Ochako sighed.

"Let's just get to the jail and see for ourselves." The tall Creation Quirk user suggested.

The girls picked up their pace and made it to the jail.

Upon arriving inside, they spoke at the front desk.

"Excuse us, but we captured the villain who attacked the festival earlier today, and we wanted to be the ones to question him." Momo explained.

"Hero names?" The man at the front desk asked.

"Creati and Uravity." Momo answered.

"Ah that's right. Well we've had a detective try the villain but he didn't budge much. I wish you gals good luck. Just down the hall. Big room with a one-way window, can't miss it. He's inside handcuffed to the table." He explained.

"Will we recognize him?" Ochako asked.

"Oh yeah. He's still in costume, but we removed his mask. Prosthetic fingers guy, right? Yeah. You'll know 'em when you see 'em." The man pointed.

The heroines bowed in gratitude then walked down said hall. "I'm surprised we beat the boys here." Ochako said.

"Yeah, they would have told us if any other heroes were here questioning Inflictor." Momo concurred.

They saw the wide window and passed by to reach the door. Inside, the villain sat at the table with his hands cuffed and his mask and hat off.

"Ready?" Momo asked.

"It's not everyday I get to interrogate someone who took my Quirk away..." She sighed.

"Quirk or not, he knows we can take him." Momo said, giving her friend a "we can do it!" smile.

Ochako smiled back and nodded. "Okay, let's do this."

Momo opened the door and they walked inside.

Inflictor didn't look at them as they stepped in, only at where they were sitting down.

"Alright. You already didn't comply with the detective. That's not good for your record." Momo frowned.

"...He's not the one I wanted to see." He said softly. "So thank you for being the ones to come."

"You more comfortable with people you've met before? How cute." Momo glared.

"You could see me as more than my prosthetics." He explained.

"How do you think that?" Ochako asked.

"You two are nicer than most heroes I've encountered." Inflictor said.

Momo picked up a clipboard on their end of the table and skimmed it.

"Says your name is Akihisa Eto. Mercenary for hire..." Momo inspected further. "Your 'jobs' have consisted of eliminating a single target with diseases. So."

Inflictor gulped.

"What drove you to attack on a larger scale? You're obviously no terrorist expert." She scoffed, keeping her serious expression.

"Honestly... I would never do something like this, to this level. But I was approached by some men..." He explained.

Ochako wanted to bring up him attacking Izuku the other night. She wanted to know if that was a part of this. And it would disclose any bit of a secret her identity was to this villain.

"L-Let me see that file." She asked, reaching out to the clipboard.

Momo passed it to her and stepped closer to Inflictor. "We don't have all day."

Ochako read the paper. Akihisa Eto, former doctor at Nagoya Hospital. Fired for assault on patients. Lost his fingers to the Yakuza. Mercenary/assassin for hire. 30 confirmed targets, 28 confirmed kills vial lethal pathogen. He could tell his story, but it won't help the fact that he's murdered people for money.

"Who were those men?" Momo asked.

"I...I can't exactly tell you." He sighed.

"You don't really have a choice here, Inflictor. Would you rather we call you that, or Akihisa?" Momo stared down at him.

"Akihisa is fine." He sighed. "You'll believe one of them. Nucleon."

The girls looked at each other. Ochako grew worry in her face but quickly hid it.

"Yeah. Nucleon hired me to do this. Something about controlling the world by controlling Quirks." Akihisa said.

"Son of a bitch. He would do that." Momo sighed.

"Were you the one who broke him out of prison?" Ochako asked.

"Me? No... That was the other guy. The other one who hired me alongside Nucleon." Akihisa said.

"So you didn't break them out of prison." Momo repeated.

"I specialize in diseases, Creati. I'm not a master prison breaker." He said.

"What about your buddy. The one with the gas Quirk. I bet you two could've done some damage." Momo suggested.

"No. They assigned him to work with me in spreading the pathogen via the air. But I never bothered to warn him about why I wear a mask." Akihisa said. "He was just another one of their hired goons."

"How many do they have?" Ochako asked.

"It's hard to tell. I only saw whatever and whoever they let me see." Akihisa said. "But I like you girls. So I'll tell you about the big guy who did break Nucleon out."

"Please do." Momo said, growing rather impatient with his not taking the situation serious.

"He's the reason I took the job... Not the money. Not the attention. Him..." Akihisa sighed. "Years ago, I got a little too close to the Eight Precepts of Death dealing Quirk-related drugs."

"Sounds familiar." Ochako frowned.

"But I wasn't one of them. I was a doctor..." He lowered his head. "I was born with the ability to take someone's illness, whatever it was, and extract it from their body, and put it into mine. My immune system and bodily protections were higher than most other humans so I could handle them without dying, then deject them into vials to be tested and cured. That was my specialty."

"We don't have time for you life story." Momo reminded him.

"I've never told anyone this and it makes sense why I took the job, okay? You want answers, this is how I'll give them." He said.

"Or I could make you get to the point." Momo threatened. A long rod began to form and grow out of her arm.

"Let him finish, Creati." Ochako insisted.

Akihisa nodded toward Ochako and continued.

"I was working on a way to take someone's cancer and cure it through my body." He said. "The hospital wouldn't fund me, they thought this project was impossible for my limitations. The bank wouldn't give me a loan either. So I turned everywhere else I could before I found the Eight Precepts again... But they cheated me. They took my technology I worked with and... They took my fingers in an attempt to remove my Quirk..." He looked down at his handcuffed wrists, flexing his intimidating robotic finger replacements.

"Thankfully, my Quirk could still work in me through the palms of my hands, but I needed something for injections to work in place of fingers so I had these developed..." He lifted his hands on the table. "My patients stopped trusting in me. Many were even terrified of my scarred appearance. One day... I snapped. I tried to force a treatment on a patient...a little boy..."

Momo grimaced. Ochako gave a sad look.

"I lost everything that day. And I had nothing to blame but myself. But there was no way I could come back from that. So I turned to the only thing I could in using my Quirk. I started developing lethal diseases and selling them, and myself for assassin work." Akihisa then slammed his hands on the table.

"You think I like being a villain?! I was never meant to be this!" He sighed and lowered his head as his fit of rage abruptly ended.

He then chuckled. "So when Mr. Quirk God and Nucleon showed up, promising a better world, in which my services as a doctor could be restored, I couldn't take them seriously. Until I saw what he was capable of..."

Momo stepped back. "So you became one of Nucleon's cultists. Alright."

Akihisa frowned. "You think I'm another one of Nucleon's psychotic visionaries? They just hired me and I liked the idea but I'm no cultist."

"You told us your story, now I think it's time we hear another side to it."

A BOOM from outside shook the building.

"Looks like you're about to." Akihisa smirked.


	19. Chapter 19: New Threat, New Mission

Shoto took a deep breath. "Deku, Warpi. Tell everyone to stand back!" He shouted.

Promethys growled and looked down at the hero.

In that moment, Shoto let both his left side, and his right side unleash a full force of fire and ice simultaneously, both torching and freezing the villain where he stood, cracking and melting the street around them.

Promethys roared in pain and released him. Then the villain swung his frozen leg around and hit Shoto in the gut, sending him back a few meters.

Shoto clutched his stomach as he fell, twisting backward and landing on his feet. Now was furiously trying to freeze Promethys in place in the street, but he kept breaking through using various Quirks he possessed.

SHEINK, he was frozen again reaching for the heroes.

The ice shook and vibrated until it shattered under the friction.

Izuku flung forward to kick the villain, but his leg was grabbed and he was swung around and thrown like a rag doll.

Hansuke appeared out of nowhere and kicked at the titan's leg. Both of them looked at each other realizing it had no effect. Then Promethys kicked his body away.

"HANSUKE!" Izuku shouted out.

He activated Black Whip and wrapped up Promethys' arm, then pulled with all his might, launching the villain forward where he was met with Izuku's fist at 20% of his power.

Police quickly surrounded the area, guiding citizens away from the fight.

Shoto sent officers to check on Hansuke, who fell unconscious in the street from the impact of Promethys' kick.

Promethys and Izuku tried throwing punches at each other, only to block the other's punch with their own.

"Such power..." Shoto gasped. "Deku, get out of there!"

Izuku let his guard down, losing speed with Promethys, and receiving a punch to his face, sending his body right through the front of a nearby store.

Before Nucleon got back up to intervene, the police tased him back down. But he took this opportunity and began to absorb the electricity being injected into his body and redirected it, frying the tasers and zapping the officers who shot him.

As he was about to blast the remaining officers with his Quirk, the sun darkened overhead. When he looked up to see what was incoming, it was too late. An entire police cruiser was dropped on his head.

Shoto turned around to see Momo and Ochako joining the fight. Ochako had her fingers pressed together, looking very worn out as she did so. It spent up all her energy and forced her to fall over and vomit on the street.

Momo rushed to her side.

Promethys growled and stepped forward as another police cruiser landed on top of him, knocking him to the ground in the moment.

"Apparently these guys are trying to free Inflictor." Momo informed the group.

"We figured...you boys c-could use our help." Ochako declared. She looked over and her heart sank as she saw Izuku climbing out of the store front with cuts all over his body from the glass.

Then, everything froze.

Promethys ripped the car off of his body and stood up. He cracked his neck and went around, landing punches in each of the heroes' guts. Then he proceeded past the police, pushing through them with the sheer force of his chest, marching off to the jail.

Time resumed.

Izuku was sent back in the store. Shoto was launched on to his back. Ochako and Momo were sent back as well. Several police officers were thrown into the air and landed in different directions.

"W-Where's the big guy?" Momo coughed and struggled to get back up.

"H-He used Hansuke's Quirk!" Shoto shouted. "He's already there!"

As each of them slowly recovered, the front doors to the police station exploded as Promethys jumped out clutching Inflictor like a little girl's teddy bear.

"It's time to leave." He said.

Using some sort of metal-manipulation Quirk, he lifted the cruiser off of Nucleon and scooped him up in his other hand.

"We shall meet again, warriors. I look forward to it." He said.

"You're not going anywhere!" Shoto yelled to him.

When the heroes started closing in on the villains, a bubble appeared around them and began to shrink until it disappeared into thin air, with the trio still inside, wherever they ended up.

Shoto yelled in anger and threw his fist at the ground, leaving a circle of ice shards around his feet.

Izuku coughed and reappeared out of the store.

Ochako heard him and ran to help him walk. "Where's Hansuke?" She asked.

"He's over here. He's stable. Just unconscious." A police officer informed them. "Tell HQ we have men down!" He ordered the other officers.

They were lead to where Hansuke was being tended to by two officers on the ground.

"He's suffered a blow to the head and the stomach. Thankfully no concussions or internal bleeding, but he's going to feel very sore and lightheaded when he wakes up. Maybe even some memory loss." The officer said.

"Are you a paramedic?" Ochako asked.

"We're required to know a few things about accidents. It's part of the gig." He said. "You were one of the heroes affected by the Quirk disease, right? Let's talk a look at you too."

Momo put her hand on Shoto's shoulder in support. "It'll be okay, Shoto. We'll catch them."

"Before when? When it's too late?" He asked, still feeling responsible and irritated by their failure.

"Shoto." She said calmly.

He sighed and slowed down his heartbeat. "I'm sorry for my outburst."

Momo couldn't help but crack a smile at her boyfriend.

Ochako helped Izuku walk over to Hansuke's side and they all sat down on the sidewalk.

"When this is over...we need a vacation." Izuku sighed.

"Today was supposed to be one. Weren't you stationed at the festival?" Ochako scolded.

"You're one to talk." Izuku coughed.

Ochako blushed. He was right about that.

Momo and Shoto joined them.

"What do we do now?" Momo asked as they sat down.

"Do whatever we can to locate the villains again." Ochako shrugged as a paramedic checked her blood pressure.

"I need to call up All Might... This villain we faced... I've only ever seen that kind of power in one other villain..." Izuku said.

"All For One..." Shoto added.

"I doubt this is League of Villains. They're destroyed." Izuku explained. "But it's possible this is a whole new kind of powerful threat to our society. Especially with that virus they have. But maybe All Might has some advice for me in dealing with him."

"He definitely had an enhanced strength Quirk." Shoto remarked. "Among others."

"All For One and his Nomus were the only things I've ever seen with multiple Quirks, but this villain seemed particularly knowledgeable about the powers he, and we, had." Momo analyzed.

"One thing's for certain..." Izuku said. "This is not going to be an easy mission."


	20. Chapter 20: Visiting the Symbol of Peace

Izuku checked in to the regional hospital where his mentor had been staying for months now. Ochako and Hansuke were behind him, but before he went to the front desk, he stopped and asked them to stay there in the lobby.

Ochako gave him a sad look and kissed his cheek. Hansuke nodded and stayed put.

The young hero made his way to All Might's room labeled "Toshinori Yagi" and stepped in the open door.

The skinny older man, with messy blonde hair, was looking out the window. He must've known Izuku was visiting because he wasn't very surprised. In fact, he almost didn't seem to acknowledge Izuku's presence in the small room.

He was laying down in a bed hooked up to a few machines beside him, and his attention was on the decent view.

"I heard about what happened." He said.

Soon, his attention finally, officially turned to the young man.

"So an assassin created a disease that attacks Quirks and unleashed it on one of the world's biggest hero conventions..." He sighed.

"I wasn't there. I'm unaffected." Izuku informed him. "I actually came here to talk to you about something related to it... But I'm also worried about you, All Might."

All Might smiled and chuckled, laying back slowly. But his laughter turned into a cough and blood trickled from his mouth. He reached over at a tray next to his bed and took a pill dry.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?..." Izuku asked.

"Heh... Ever since my final battle with All For One... Every piece of One For All within me slipped away. First, the parts that made me a strong hero, then... what was keeping me alive after such a crushing blow years ago." He explained.

Izuku clenched his fists.

"I think it's time, Izuku Midoriya..." He sighed.

Izuku shook his head. "I don't know if I can allow that..."

"Classic Midoriya, always trying to save everyone even beyond what's inevitable. What's realistic." He chuckled.

"That doesn't really help me, All Might." Izuku frowned.

"It's not supposed to." All Might looked back at the window. "I was just enjoying the view when you came in... Out of the many beautiful things I could see, you know what I paid attention to the most?"

Izuku sat at the foot of the old hero's bedside and looked out the same window hoping to spot whatever spectacular thing he was about to share.

"A man and a woman, swinging a little girl in their arms. Enjoying their lives in that sweet moment as a family..." All Might said softly. "The life of a hero gets so hectic. Your job consists of stopping the absolute worst of humanity from bringing destruction and changing everything I see out this window... Sometimes it's hard to see that there are still moments like that."

Izuku listened intently and thought of his own family. And the moments like that, in which they had just the other day. Even with the villain disturbance, it was a peaceful day. Just him walking beside Ochako, hand in hand aside from her pinky. And little Eri following them with her music, lost in her imagination.

Izuku and All Might agreed: as long as there are moments like that, there is hope. Even through these scary events. Diseases stopping heroes from using their Quirks at full strength, and new villains with terrifying abilities and philosophies.

Despite all of that circulating the news, there is still hope in the heroes.

"The last thing I want to teach you, is something I never really got the chance to experience myself, young Midoriya..." All Might broke the silence.

"Yes?" Izuku asked hesitantly.

"Having a family...is the greatest way of remembering that there is hope and peace..." He smiled. "As much as I've always taught you to become the greatest hero, remember your responsibilities as a husband, and as a father."

He held out his hand for Izuku, which the young man quickly held. "If you can't be a hero for everyone... At least be a hero to them."

"I will. I promise..." Izuku teared up.

"Good... You've made me so proud, Izuku..." All Might smiled up at him warmly. "You're destined to be the number one hero... Even greater than I was."

Izuku felt uneasy about that, but still nodded to his sensei.

Just then, he felt a buzz in his pocket. His phone was receiving a hero's alert.

"Go." All Might said. "I'll take the time to rest."

"Okay... Please rest up. I'll come back later. I still need that advice." Izuku said lightheartedly.

"Be careful. And know when the time is right to use your full abilities." All Might said. "I fear that day is coming for you..."

Izuku gulped and waved goodbye as he rushed out the doorway and down to regroup with his wife and intern.

All Might sighed and resumed looking out the window at the people down below. Still very much a hero at heart.

He sighed wearily and closed his eyes to sleep.

Izuku felt something inside of him break. He began to cry as they left the building.

"Izuku?! What's wrong?!" Ochako asked as she ran to keep up with him.

"H-He's dying, Ochako... But I can't be here for him!" He cried out.

"Hansuke, go with him! I'll stay with All Might." Ochako ordered, giving the boy a push before running back inside the hospital.

Izuku pulled out his phone and looked up quickly.

They found them. Not too far out of the metropolitan area.

"What happened?" Hansuke asked.

"Let's go. We need to move fast. They called in quite a few heroes to this." Izuku informed him and put his phone back. "This is it."

"This is it!" Hansuke repeated and ran ahead overexcited.


	21. Chapter 21: Plan of Attack

Izuku and Hansuke met up with the other pro-heroes who were not present during the attack on the festival. Everyone at their healthiest and strongest.

Many of them included Toru Hagakure, Mina Ashido, Mezo Shoji, Tenya Iida, Fumikage Tokoyami, Eijiro Kirishima, Hanta Sero, Rikido Sato, Yuga Aoyama, Itsuka Kendo, Inasa Yoarashi, Mashirao Ojiro, Camie Utsushimi, Tsetsutsetsu Tsetsutsetsu, and some older and more experienced pro-heroes, although not many.

Although some of them didn't have the Quirks of fighters, every single one of them was a fierce warrior.

They gathered together in a circle outside of the city near a dam. Within their circle and around were dozens of police officers as well.

"From what we know, Nucleon is taking orders from a multi-Quirk villain who calls himself Promethys, the giver of all Quirks." Detective Tsukauchi announced to the large team of heroes and police.

"They've hired an assassin villain known as Inflictor to create a disease that prevents full Quirk usage, which he then unleashed on the pathetically guarded hero festival." He continued.

"We are to assume that all three are here now at Ogouchi Dam. Scanners in the city picked up, moments after they disappeared, a power surge. They're trying to use the dam's power for something."

He then pointed to the heroes around him. "The Pro-Heroes will be lead by Ground Zero and Shoto." He then gestured to Katsuki and Shoto, who both nodded back.

"The mission is to find out what they're doing here, and to put a stop to it." Detective Tsukauchi said. "We have no idea what Promethys is capable of aside from previous encounters with Deku and Shoto. But we also know that he is the villain responsible for the prison break, and the deaths of dozens of guards and the warden himself."

"Permission to add something, sir." Izuku spoke out.

"Go ahead, Deku." The detective addressed him.

"When I fought with him... I felt power I hadn't before in years... He reminded me of the days of All For One... His determination, his goals, his might...his power... Be advised, if he makes eye contact with you, he can access your Quirk for himself, along with the Quirks of your ancestors." Izuku explained.

"Does this mean he's got your Quirk?" Tenya spoke up in concern.

"N-No, I was able to use Fire Sight to block him." Izuku said quickly using the lie he forced himself to prepare for this exact question. "I think he knows what my Quirk is, and my parents'. But he doesn't have mine."

"That's a huge relief." Tsukauchi sighed happily.

Izuku nodded with a nervous smile.

"Where on the dam are they located?" Shoto asked.

"Surveillance shows Inflictor working on something on the top of the dam connected to the cell tower. Nucleon is standing guard at the much wider access entrance to the facility. And no signs of Promethys but he could be using some sort of Quirk to hide from our spying tech." Tsukauchi said.

"So let's overpower the one guard villain and charge our way through! Our numbers are perfect to take on anything!" Katsuki shouted.

"We need to see what Inflictor is doing. It could be a bomb. As soon as he hears we took down Nucleon, he could set it off. If it jeopardizes the dam, our lives, or the lives of anyone living in the wake of the dam, it's not worth the risk." Shoto said.

"I'll volunteer to sneak past Nucleon and see what Inflictor is up to." Toru spoke out, waving her glove around. She had recently upgraded her suit and gloves to camouflage to any surroundings, refracting off of her invisibility.

"Keep in touch using the earpieces." Tsukauchi reminded. "We need to keep everything reported. And we need to find Promethys."

"Roger that!" Toru replied confidently.

"Be careful." Mina requested her friend.

Toru gave her a silent thumbs up before cloaking her entire body, suit, gloves and all, and pressing forward beyond the base camp.

Izuku looked on past the trees. A short distance from their position, Nucleon was out on the maintenance driveway leading to the large sealed door to the dam, sitting down.

He seemed simultaneously riled up for a fight, yet peacefully meditating.

Toru had managed to tiptoe up to his location and with her experience with stealth, slipped past his suspicions with ease.

Before she could radio to the others that the easiest way in for her was shut, and there was no way she could open it and run inside without Nucleon hearing it, Hanta launched his tape out from a nearby bush and wrapped up Nucleon at his torso.

Using the ensuing commotion for cover, she opened the maintenance door and shut it behind.

"I'm inside! Anyone engaging Nucleon, be careful!" She whispered.

Then she proceeded forward inside the concrete facility down a narrow corridor that lead into an open chamber where turbines converted the dam's water into energy for the machines below. Past that was a set of stairs that lead to a platform on the roof.

As she snuck out to the roof, she could see Inflictor tapping a series of numbers into a machine hooked up to the cell tower. On the machine were several canisters with hazard symbols on them. Bingo.

It was without a doubt what they were here for. As she approached closer, she noticed a vial sticking out of a pouch on Inflictor's trench coat.

And out of the corner of her eye, she nearly made a noise seeing all three meters of Promethys step forward seemingly out of nowhere.

"Those 'heroes' and authorities have arrived. They plan to storm us and stop the machine here." Promethys reported.

"Well, all I have left to do it type in the sequence that activates the release. Once I do, the machine will launch the disease out into the atmosphere and global outbreak will begin. It's been enhanced to become airborne without the usage of gas." Inflictor explained.

"I expected nothing better." Promethys nodded. "Now type it."

Toru backed behind the corner at the top of the staircase. "Guys... It's a machine to unleash the virus into the atmosphere... On the roof... And there's no time to stop it. I have to engage."

"Toru, listen to me! Do not engage! Wait for us! Shoto's almost frozen Nucleon solid!" Mashirao shouted in the radio.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered and silenced her earpiece. "It's what a real hero would do..."

With the stealth and speed of a cat, she rushed forward, her sound-cancelling boots rushed her up to the machine where the villains were standing, and Inflictor had his hands on the keypad.

With a swift motion, she kicked the keypad from his prosthetic fingertips, and was immediately seized.

Promethys, with heightened senses, grabbed Toru by her neck and picked her up while Inflictor scrambled to grasp the keypad again.

"You foolish girl..." Promethys snarled.

His grip on her neck tightened as she struggled for breath, disconnecting sensors in her suit and made it visible again.

"You will be the first of many to die today..."


	22. Chapter 22: Heroes Ambush

Minutes before...

Nucleon remained in a meditated state as Izuku and Shoto approached from two separate sides. He was now wrapped in Hanta's tape but remained composed and stationary.

"Y-You guys finish him off." Hanta whispered to Izuku. "I can't fight a force like him, and it's suspicious how happy he looks to be captured..."

"We know that he's going to target whoever has energy he can steal." Izuku mentioned back at the base camp. "Of those engaging him, if it's me, he'll most likely go for me."

"I'll go with you." Shoto volunteered. "You can act as bait while I freeze him in place."

Here they were now, each step closer was taken cautiously.

Nucleon's eyes remained closed yet a smile crept up on his face. He chuckled. "Good to see you again, young Deku."

"And I sense another. This one I'm not familiar with, but Promethys is. The Todoroki boy, is it?" He asked. His eyes opened and darted between them on separate sides of the clearing.

"Sasaki Nissho, AKA Nucleon." Izuku stated. "By order of the Tokyo City Police Department, the elite guard at Tartarus prison, and the representatives of Ogouchi Dam, we place you and your cohorts under hero's arrest and will take you to the police immediately."

Nucleon laughed harder now. "So authoritative. You like having false power?"

Izuku glared in anger at the villain, who returned a look of confidence. "Pretty soon, these titles... These social standings... They'll all crumble. There will be no more heroes nor villains. Just the loyal, the enlightened. And the blind, the damned."

"Enough talk, you psychopath." Shoto hissed and unleashed a wave of ice toward the sitting villain.

In a swift motion, he leapt off the ground, dodging the attack and charged the half-and-half Quirk user.

"He must have guessed we would assume he'd go for me because of my power... But he may already have power of his own!" Izuku thought.

Shoto's eyes widened and he unleashed a volley of fire in Nucleon's direction.

The villain laughed as he slid out of the way and returned fire, blasting a green laser from his hand.

Shoto jumped away, but not before feeling the backside of his suit burn from the laser blast. "Augh!" He shouted.

"SHOTO!" Izuku leapt forward and quickly tethered Nucleon with Black Whip.

Nucleon laughed and attempted to burn through the ethereal black tendrils.

"Midoriya, back away!" Shoto shouted regaining his balance.

Izuku backed away, keeping his arm out to control Black Whip.

Instantly, Shoto launched another wall of ice that rose in Nucleon's direction and coated his body entirely, except for his face which was looking upwards.

Mashirao rushed out of the bushes alongside the several other heroes. "Toru reached Inflictor! There's a machine about to launch the virus into the atmosphere on the roof!"

"Alright, let the police take Nucleon from here. Let's go!" Eijiro ordered as he charged along.

"Right!" Izuku and Shoto replied in unison before joining the others.

Katsuki roared out and began airborne, blasting himself off toward the roof.

"Get up there, Warpi! See if we can destroy the machine or if something else has to happen!" Izuku ordered to his intern.

"Yes sensei!" Hansuke replied. "By the way, I think I'll change my hero name after this. Warpi just doesn't do it for me."

"Go now!" Shoto repeated.

"Right, right! Going!" Hansuke snapped his fingers and made his way up through the door, up the stairs and to the rooftop.

Katsuki was closing in on the machine all guns a-blazing style.

Inflictor was typing something into a keypad. The hero Invisible Girl was laying on the ground with her suit covered in blood. And no one else was in sight.

"That must be the code to launch the machine!" Hansuke said to himself. "While I'm up here I might as well stop Inflictor."

As he rushed up to tackle the villain, he was knocked away by a large arm. A massive backhand.

Hansuke grunted in pain and tumbled to the ground. The effects of his Quirk started to wear him down very quickly, especially after that hit.

He looked up to see Promethys standing above him.

"Nucleon once mentioned you." He said. "He told me you had the chance to join the cause, but turned it down out of fear." The villain knelt down closer. "But now, what kind of fear is more compelling?"

The young UA student gulped and gasped. "The...duty...as a hero...to kick your ass..."

Promethys's large mandibled mouth smiled. "Your heart is concluded. I have no reason to spare you, child."

Hansuke quickly snapped his fingers, resuming time.

Promethys's eyes darted up to see Izuku above them. Before he could react, Izuku's fist made contact with the monster's face and threw him back.

Katsuki unleashed a Howitzer Blast on to the machine, putting smoke and fire all over the rooftop as the rest of the heroes arrived.

Inflictor groaned, having the force of the impact knock the keypad from his hands again and throw him against the nearest concrete wall. He looked up through his cracked mask to find the machine completely untouched.

Katsuki landed and had the opposite reaction. "Wha-"

Promethys recovered and found the roof swarming with the heroes.

"It's over, freak show!" Eijiro shouted.

Promethys sighed and looked down. "Over, you say?"

"Your buddy Nucleon is captured. You're surrounded."

"But the machine still stands..." Promethys turned his head towards the contraption still sitting on the cell tower unscathed as before. "And I can see the control panel. Only two digits left to type."

He raised his hand high in the air. "It is not over, dear children."

"All heroes, brace yourselves!" Hanta called, seeing people's capes, hair, and various loose pieces of clothing blowing in all directions away from the towering villain.

Promethys's eyes glowed brightly. All tattoos on his body glowed as well.

A wave of energy blasted from his hand down from the roof where he was standing, and hit Nucleon directly through his temporary ice prison, melting through it instantly and causing him to scream at first.

Everyone shielded their eyes from how bright this display was, then they could faintly see it became a two-way connection than just a simple one-way laser hit.

Izuku looked to Shoto. "...That day a year ago...back in Tokyo at the towers..."

"Nucleon tethered himself to a villain with a power conductor Quirk..." Shoto finished.

"ATTACK HIM!" Izuku yelled out and charged.

Then everyone was flown back as a black hole ripped open in the sky not far above their heads.

The heroes quickly recovered and heard screams and gunshots in the distance.

"Ground Zero! Come in!" Detective Tsukauchi's voice shouted in the radio.

"Tsukauchi! The hell's going on down there?!" Katsuki asked through his earpiece.

Mezo used his arms to form a set of eyes that observed the ground at the base of the dam.

"The police force is under attack! Hostiles are emerging from the portal!" He reported.

Promethys laughed. "Now, you will see a world where my power reigns supreme!"


	23. Chapter 23: The Cure

Tenya rushed down where the police forces were camped.

Using a Recipro Burst, he scooped up Detective Tsukauchi as he was about to be pounced upon by one of the mysterious new attackers.

Stopping and setting the detective on his feet, he turned around.

"Who on earth are these guys?!" He asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" The detective said, staring ahead.

Before them, attacking the other police officers and task forces, were legions of strange humanoid creatures with dark purple skin and large toothy mouths. Their eyes glowed a reddish pink, identical to Promethys's eyes.

Katsuki blasted down and immediately began to protect the police forces...by attacking the strange and hostile alien creatures.

He flew overhead and left a trail of explosions on the ground behind him, wiping several of them out.

"Looks like they're getting that under control." Hansuke said. "Deku-sensei! Let's take out the machine!"

Izuku nodded and went for Inflictor, but Promethys leapt between them and stood in his way.

He backhanded the hero and slammed his body against the dam's wall.

"Enter the code, Inflictor. And the world will know what a doctor you are again." Promethys ordered.

Inflictor stopped himself. What a strange choice of words. How would the world respect him as a doctor with this monster destroying everything in his path? Out of fear?

"DO IT!" Promethys roared.

"Y-Yes!" He said.

Hanta Sero quickly flung a strip of tape in his direction and wrapped his arm, holding it away from the keypad.

Promethys turned toward the Tape-Quirk hero and marched his way, until Izuku and Shoto blasted him off the edge of the roof with fire and Fire Sight.

Promethys tumbled down the hill and landed in the chaotic battle between heroes, cops, and the aliens.

Before more orders could be given, a portal ripped open above the roof as more creatures descended upon the heroes. They distracted Hanta and cut his tape and pushed the other heroes back for Inflictor to reach the controls again.

Suddenly the sky grew dark for a moment as a shadow cast over the scene.

Inflictor looked up to see the portal tear apart and an old fishing boat crashed on the roof and crumbled apart, crushing several alien monsters.

Momo took a rough landing on the roof carrying Ochako in her arms.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" She shouted.

Ochako simply nodded, looking too weak to do much else.

"You used your Quirk even though you're sick?!" Inflictor shouted.

More of the purple alien warriors charged the heroines with long claws and teeth exposed.

Momo set Ochako aside on the ground. "Don't worry, Ochako. I'm gonna protect you and get to that machine!"

Before she could fight the incoming enemies, large needles burst through each of their heads and retracted back.

Inflictor stood with all of his prosthetic fingers shrinking back into place.

"Your world is dying, heroes! Why fight for people who will never take you seriously?! Nobody ever cared about me and the world needed me! Without people like me, people die!" He shouted angrily.

"Doctor Akihisa!" Momo called to him. "That's exactly why we do this... The world needs us, even if they don't see it."

"It's easy for you to say, even if you're not the most popular, you have your big strong men to save you from being thrown into the streets..." He hissed through his chipped mask.

"We know we're not perfect people... And next to the people we love, we know we could never surpass them with our powers." Momo said taking a step forward cautiously. Ochako nodded weakly and continued to sit on the rubble.

"But we go with what we have... We train and study and work until our powers are just what the world needs. You are needed. Don't disbelieve that. It's not too late to be redeemed as a doctor again."

"Sh-She's right!" Ochako shouted. "You can still make this right, Doctor!"

Inflictor sighed and removed his beak-like mask and large hat. "I can't put my trust into anything anymore. If I do help you, how do I know you'll get me my career back?"

"We can't promise that we will." Momo admitted. "But we want you to see that you should fight for yourself and show that you are needed and that you are willing to work extra hard, in spite of your disabilities and past."

The troubled doctor sighed, then dropped his mask and hat to the ground. He pressed a button to a small pouch in his coat then raised two fingers at the girls. "Hold still."

Faster than they could see, needles launched forward, breaking through their skins and injecting something.

Momo and Ochako gasped and squeaked at the sudden action but soon felt strength returning to them they forgot they had lost.

"What was that?" Ochako asked.

"...The cure." Doctor Akihisa said. "Help me pour the rest of it into the machine. It'll kill the virus and we can unleash it into the atmosphere like we would the virus."

"Right!" They cheered.

Momo looked over the edge at the fighting below. "What about them?"

"All this hinges on what happens with this machine, Creati! They'll be fine! Dozens of Japan's finest heroes and officers are down there." Ochako assured her.

Doctor Akihisa nodded in agreement. But as he turned, Promethys's laser blast struck him directly in his chest and launched him into the wall.

The towering monster of a villain was then attacked again by Izuku and Shoto.

Ochako and Momo ran to the doctor lying against the cracked wall.

"F-F-F..." He gasped. "45-67-83... The code to cancel the viral launch..." He weakly pulled the pouch from his coat and handed it to Momo. "57-32-57." Code to launch the machine once the cure is inserted..."

"Doctor Akihisa..." Ochako addressed him with tears filling her eyes.

He chuckled weakly. "I figured I'd die for a silly dream...that one day it could all be just the way it was..."

"No... That's not true." Ochako sniffed. "You fought for your dream..."

"Do you think it came true?" He asked.

Momo entered in the codes and launched the machine.

It whirred to life and fired a missile shaped object high into the sky beyond view.

Everyone briefly stopped to watch the projectile.

Promethys smiled. "Say goodbye to your abilities."

Minutes passed, the fighting continued. Heroes continued to use their Quirks and take out the alien attackers swiftly and professionally.

Izuku and Shoto looked at each other, then up to the rooftop of the dam maintenance building, then back to Promethys with confident smiles as police surrounded all three.

"Yes... You did it, doc." Ochako smiled.

But by then, Doctor Akihisa was gone. His eyes, watery, were still and glasslike.


	24. Chapter 24: Defender’s Challenge

"It's over, Promethys! Stay your forces and surrender now!" Shoto ordered.

"Did he seriously just say 'stay your forces'?" Hanta snickered as he had wrapped up several of the mysterious purple creatures for the police.

Promethys turned around to observe the scene. The portals had closed and his legions were either captured or dead, scattered across the valley and surrounded by heroes and police officers.

"Come on, heroes! Whatever launched into the sky, everyone afflicted with the virus is making speedy recoveries now!" The radio in their earpieces cried out in gratitude.

Promethys sighed. "I see what must be done now."

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the monster.

"You're all so content with the limitations to your powers now that you refuse to give them up for something much greater!" He roared and faced the two young heroes who stood closest to him.

"I offer unlimited power! And universal protection! You think I'm the only otherworldly being in existence?...You have no idea. All I am here for is to offer your species power and protection, all you have to do is surrender yourselves and your abilities to me." He continued.

"You're in no position to bargain, villain!" Izuku shouted.

Ochako and Momo watched from the roof at the scene below.

"I am no common criminal here. I am a god." Promethys said with all of his eyes glowing brightly.

"All units, open fire!" A police captain ordered.

Izuku and Shoto backed away as guns from almost every direction fired on the villain.

A large blue bubble formed over his body, sticking all of the bullets inside of the film like flies on fly paper.

He waited until the police stopped. Then he tore the bubble away with ease and lifted his hand toward the dam above.

Promethys roared and groaned as his hand clenched into a fist. Simultaneously, the dam cracked apart like nothing. The villain then swung his fist forward as the dam collapsed all at once.

"SHOTO!" Izuku shouted.

Instinctively, Shoto slammed his boot forward and unleashed a wave of ice that blocked the waves of water from spilling forth.

"Cellophane, Sugarman, Uravity, you three assemble any other heroes to pick up as many pieces of the dam and fill the cracks fast!" Detective Tsukauchi ordered from his radio. He suffered serious scratches from the alien monsters before the heroes took them down.

"Shoto, Deku, Ground Zero, you three take out Promethys...don't go easy on him. I've got a bad feeling about him." The detective said.

Promethys turned toward the two. "Ground Zero. I wonder if he meant-"

KABOOM

Katsuki appeared from behind and Howitzer blasted the villain at point-blank range.

The impact was so close to Shoto and Izuku that it melted through most of the sudden ice wall Shoto put between them for protection. He didn't have enough time to form a thicker one.

Katsuki landed on his feet facing the spot where the villain was hit.

As the smoke cleared and the ice melted, the three watched as Promethys's body, laying on the ground charred and broken, began to regenerate itself back.

"No you don't!" Katsuki reached forward to blast him again, only for Promethys to freeze time for a second more, too weak to simply freeze time for much longer than two seconds. Just enough to reform his legs and arms, but not his hands.

Still, he forced the growth of a long spike on one of his arms in place of a hand and lunged forward.

Izuku used Black Whip, wrapping it around Katsuki's torso and pulling him out of the way of the incoming spike.

"First I'll take out the more morally-bound of the warriors!" Promethys announced, continuing his charge forward. His spike arm shrunk down and transformed back into his hand.

Izuku and Shoto ran to meet him head-on. Both refused to show fear.

Before they could clash, Promethys grabbed them both by their shirts and then disappeared from the scene entirely.

The police and heroes stopped and looked.

"NOOO!" Ochako screamed.

Momo grabbed her and held her from running to the scene. "They're not gone! It looks like Promethys used a teleportation Quirk on them."

"Wherever they went...they'll finish him off." Tenya added from his perspective as he rushed to help Katsuki stand on his feet again.

Katsuki threw his arm away from Tenya's help and stood up on his own. "Where the hell did he take them?!"

Everyone looked at each other in silence, hoping someone knew the answers to what was happening.

Nucleon, now wrapped in several restraints, chuckled. "Promethys challenges every planet's defenders, only the ones whose hearts are set to something not of his own. He's never lost a battle. He's never not taken a planet."

"Silence!" An officer commanded and hit him in the head with the butt of his gun.

Momo looked on as Ochako resumed picking up large pieces of the dam and lifting them up into the air.

"Please be okay..." She whispered, hoping, somehow, that her Shoto was listening.

Meanwhile, Promethys emerged out of thin air along with Izuku and Shoto who were instantly flung back in opposite directions of the villain.

Izuku landed on something rather soft, but very cold. He sat up and took a quick observation of where he was taken. All around them were trees, hills, and snow. Nothing more.

"A remote place, far from civilization. I sense great power in each of you. And your spirits are that of fighters, and commanders. Your acts seem to inspire in the very least." Promethys explained. "Here is where I challenge you to a death battle."

"You're insane!" Shoto hissed focusing a large hot beam of fire at the villain.

He turned his body and blocked the attack with his right side, freezing the air in front of him and turning the fire to steam.

Izuku leapt at him at supersonic speed, activating Full Cowling at the highest percentage he could handle and slammed both feet into Promethys's back.

His body slammed forward and dragged through the snow and dirt for a few meters until crashing through a tree trunk completely.

Izuku jumped off and activated Black Whip, binding Promethys's arms and legs like a captured wild animal.

Shoto stood beside him. "Surrender. You've lost."

"I haven't shown you all that I can do." Promethys hissed. His tattoos began to glow.

"You have an impressive ability. That of your mother...and your father. You're unstoppable." He said.

Shoto glared in hatred at the villain on the ground.

"Easy, Shoto." Izuku warned him. "He could do anything right now."

"However, the cost of using both ice and fire, weakens both of them within you. I much rather prefer your father's exact Quirk." Promethys continued.

Flames ignited across his pink body in patterns like those of Endeavor.

"And your mother's Quirk as well."

Ice patterns darted across his body and intersected with the flames lining up with his veins.

The two heroes backed away.

"Midoriya, move!" Shoto ordered and pushed them both back.

Izuku felt Black Whip disintegrate as uncontrollable waves of intense heat and freezing air ripped through the valley they were thrown into.

Everywhere around them, trees were burnt to ash instantly, rocks froze and crumbled under ice, snow turned to steam then refroze as ice.

Izuku jumped back and forth dodging large incoming waves of fire and ice. He could feel the heat even from a considerable distance singeing his eyebrows and parts of his hero costume then freeze his skin blue.

Shoto remained stationary trying to combat the incoming waves with countering attacks. When a wave of fire approached, he unleashed as much ice as he could, watching it melt almost faster than he could conjure it. When a wave of ice approached, he let his fire burn beyond control, burning his shirt halfway to nothing.

Izuku noticed this from the corner of his eye and turned his attention, suffering a blow of fire to the back in the meantime.

"Izuku!" Shoto yelled out.

Gathering up strength despite the burning pain in his back, Izuku lunged forward and scooped up his friend, carrying them both far away.

"Hiding, are we?" Promethys's voice echoed through the valley as if he were standing meters away.

Izuku set Shoto on his feet, nearly dropping him in the act.

"Midoriya, you're hurt badly!" Shoto pointed out.

"I know. H-How are you doing?" Izuku tried to turn the attention to Shoto's fragile relationship with both of his parents. Watching a villain use both his mother's and his father's Quirks against him must not be a joyride either.

"I'm...I'm fine. But we need to end this now." Shoto said sternly. "I don't think either of us can last much longer against this freak."

Promethys emerged from the trees. Ones on his left side burned to ash while ones on his right froze over and shattered like glass as he marched toward the heroes.

"Two against one? I don't think so." Promethys said. With a stomp of his foot, the ground shook.

In the distance, where the ground rose to where the ground descended, an entire hill was ripped out of the earth and floated toward the fight.

"What is that?!" Izuku questioned in vain.

Promethys laughed evilly as the mound of earth hurled towards them.

Izuku activated every percentage of One For All in his body and tried to break the mass apart with a good hit at the center, but it was too dense, and carried him off as it traveled over Shoto's head and crashed into the nearby trees.

"IZUKU!" He screamed. His emotions were now overtaking him.

Promethys marched closer and closer, confident that the fighting didn't need anymore speed to it.

Shoto lowered his head, then turned to the towering villain who was slowly approaching.

"Feel my power, monster." He hissed.

Lifting both his right and his left hands, both fire and ice emerged from his body at the same time. Endless. Streaming from him without limit. Building from each other and maintaining a chaotic balance.

Promethys was blasted back, feeling the intense effects of fire and ice destroying his body and the surrounding land.

Shoto yelled as he continued his endless onslaught on the villain.

While he countered with both the fire and ice of his parents, and slowly marched forward. If not for the dramatic temperature changes, or the burning and freezing extremes, the sheer force of it.

Promethys roared out as sprouted large wings on his back and launched off the ground out of range as the wings flapped then disappeared back into his shoulder blades and sent him back down to the ground above the half-n-half hero.

Shoto lunged out of the way as the villain slammed on the ground with his fist. But before he could swing back and blast him, Promethys rushed at him and kicked him to the ground on his back.

The villain planted his large foot on Shoto's chest and pressed down firmly.

"Augh!" He yelled.

"You're full of tricks, boy. But despite having the powers of your mother and your father in you, I am the one standing." Promethys said looking down on him.

Suddenly, a green flash shot by and blasted Promethys away, transferring kinetic energy to him and launching his pink body into the side of a mountain.

"You throw another hill at me, and I'm going to lose it!" Izuku shouted angrily. He stood strong despite his numerous injuries, cuts, bruises, burns, and some splinters.

Promethys tore out of the crevice his body made and stared down Izuku with all nine of his eyes. "Izuku Midoriya."


	25. Chapter 25: True Loyalty

Izuku's eyes opened in surprise to see Promethys launch from the crater in the mountain at such high speeds. Even without Hansuke's time manipulation Quirk, the villain was still incredibly fast.

They clashed, slamming their fists together and generating a shockwave that rocked the trees and shook the snow.

Shoto struggled to stand up, but he managed to watch the fight sitting on the ground.

Promethys grew several tentacles from his back that snared Izuku's arms and legs, until Izuku countered unleashing Black Whip and wrapping it around the villain's neck.

Promethys roared out and the tentacles shrank back, only for him to slam his enlarged fist right up into the hero's gut.

Izuku's eyes watered. He fell to his knees and threw up on the ground. He looked up quick to see Promethys swing his leg and kick Izuku in the chin, flipping him up in the air.

Before his body hit the ground, Promethys blasted him with lasers focused from all nine eyes, burning and knocking him back farther.

Still, Izuku activated One For All at his highest power and got back up.

"Such might warriors. You were trained well. However, though your souls refuse to give up, your bodies...will break." Promethys said.

"You talk too much." Izuku hissed before blasting him with his Fire Sight.

Promethys hardened his skin, splitting the two lasers in several directions like a sunbeam hitting a broken mirror.

"Midoriya, jump!" Shoto commanded as he unleashed a wave of ice in their direction.

Izuku waited until the right moment, listening to the incoming ice, then stopped Fire Sight and jumped up as several giant shards of ice impaled Promethys.

Shoto continued to push his ice until Promethys was trapped within solid frozen water.

The heroes took a moment to breathe. Then they looked back hearing explosions coming from inside.

"Shit..." Shoto gasped.

"That must be Kacchan's Quirk." Izuku panted.

"He's right on one thing. We can't keep fighting forever." The half and half Quirk user said.

"...I can stop him... B-But it'll most definitely break me." Izuku sighed looking down at his gloved hand.

Shoto thought back to their first year of UA. How Izuku would break his body when he overused his Quirk. Then he thought back to the words of All Might, when the mighty hero saved the class from a handful of incredibly powerful villains, then again when he battled his ultimate nemesis All For One.

"You may have heard these words before. But I'll teach you what they REALLY mean!"

"Go beyond." Izuku said.

"Plus ultra." Shoto finished.

Promethys blew right through the ice with his hands outstretched. "You cannot imprison me! This ends with your deaths, or mine."

"So be it!" Shoto shouted.

Promethys suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in front of them. With one swift kick, Shoto was knocked back unconscious.

"SHOTO!" Izuku screamed.

Promethys backhanded the green haired hero then followed with a direct punch to his gut again.

In mid-punch, Izuku's eyes flashed green and he grabbed Promethy's arm, carrying the villain along in the force of his own punch.

The two of them tumbled and crashed through more trees for a moment before Promethys threw down his feet and skidded in the dirt.

Izuku activated Black Whip and swung through the trees, using the momentum to double kick Promethys in the chest, sending him back against a boulder, cracking it in half.

He activated Black Whip again and swung around while Promethys recovered and began firing at the trees Black Whip swung from with a laser from his palms.

"Ever since my divine calling, I've refrained from hating anyone immediately. But from the stories Nucleon told, to our first encounter, I knew I couldn't trust you. Someone with so much power...and none of it in your ancestry." Promethys boomed through the trees following after Izuku on foot.

"It most certainly 'pissed me off', as I said." He said chasing after the hero and blasting at him repeatedly.

Izuku continued to swing through the trees, letting go of each one blasted and quickly grappling a new one each time.

"I can't get too far from Shoto. I need to know he's okay... But I can drive Promethys away." Izuku thought to himself.

In that moment, he remembered All Might's example to him, and the times he was an example to others, including All Might himself.

Every one of his friends all became heroes on the same philosophy: a hero is someone to does the impossible, everything, and more, to save others and be a light in their dark world. Sacrifice. Whatever it takes.

In order to save his home, his family, possibly the entire world from this monster, he knew what he had to do, even if it did mean he would die as well.

Izuku used Black Whip to swing completely around, redirecting himself right at the villain.

Promethys, for that moment, looked shocked.

"Who is this warrior?" He thought.

"UNITED...STATES OF..."

Promethys realized something. He had been going too easy on them. Multiple Quirks, and still giving them time to breathe. Time to think.

He activated every Quirk within his body all at once, including Hansuke's time stopping Quirk.

Izuku froze in the air.

Promethys lunged at him and slammed his knee into the hero's chin. Then as Izuku fell back in slow motion, Promethys slammed his fists on to his back. And followed with a laser beam from all of his eyes.

Time resumed, Izuku fell to the ground hard, leaving a crater underneath his body.

Promethys landed directly on his spine with a loud crunch.

He picked up Izuku and grew a large sharp spike from his arm and raised it to pierce the hero's heart.

"STOP! STOP PLEASE!"

Promethys mercifully stopped and turned his head.

Izuku strained in the villain's grasp, making sure he wasn't getting choked, as he looked down to see Shoto standing before them.

"Sp-Spare his life... Please. Spare him." He said with desperation in his voice. "I can't stand to see my friend die..."

Promethys thought for a moment.

"You're here for people to join your side, right? Take me for it. Just don't kill Midoriya..."

"Shoto, no! Don't do that!" Izuku cried out. "Never surrender!"

"You think this was my first choice, Izuku?! We can't beat him!" He choked. "This is how he wins, taking us on one by one, making us concerned for each other and watch each other die. Where we're powerless."

Promethys nodded. "I've heard enough. You and I shall return to your friends and we'll establish peace from there. You're making a brave decision here. A wise one."

He dropped Izuku and marched up to Shoto.

Shoto nodded back, then quickly spawned an icicle right through his chest.

Izuku gasped and limped over to help but Promethys raised the blade on his arm and plunged it right through Shoto's chest.

"NOOOO!" Izuku shouted.

Shoto yelled out and gasped, struggling for air as he weakly gripped the blade in his chest.

Promethys melted the icicle out of his chest and regenerated, then picked up Shoto and pulled the blade out.

"No true loyalties are born from last minute decisions. You were planning to kill me from the start but it's just as futile as when you were honestly fighting me." The powerful villain hissed into Shoto's face.

Izuku cried as he reached out for the two.

Promethys turned and kicked Izuku hard, sending his body flying back, crashing through a tree headfirst, then tumbling down the hill, which quickly turned into a cliff out of view.

"I-I-Izuku..." Shoto sputtered.

Promethys held on to the young, mortally wounded hero, and teleported the two of them away, leaving the fate of Izuku to nature itself. And the river his body landed in.

_END OF BOOK TWO_


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